Chapter Text
Josie chewed her nails as she paced back and forth. She was in the foyer, her eyes never leaving the front door, she kept forgetting to blink, only to be reminded when her eyes started to hurt.
“Jo, I’m sure everything is fine,” Lizzie said, lightly grabbing Josie’s shoulder to pull her attention away from the door but Josie just shrugged her off.
“It’s been almost an hour,” was Josies only reply.
“She’s talking to a goddess! Those things take time.” Josie stopped her pacing, turning to Lizzie with a raised eyebrow. “I assume,” Lizzie shrugged.
“Something doesn’t feel right,” Josie looked back to the front door, willing it to open up, willing Hope to come walking in.
“She’s with a goddess.” Josie gave her sister a worried look. “Why don’t you trust her?”
“Because she’s a goddess,” Josie snapped, the lights in the hallway flickered. She closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths. “Sorry,” she frowned, looking back to the closed door. “From all the stories,” Josie shook her head. “Gods can’t be trusted.” She looked back at her sister. “Even the nice ones.”
Lizzie sighed, nodding along. “I know,” she said softly. “Artemis seemed to like her though, maybe the only one she liked out of all of us.”
Josie smiled at that, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You’re probably right.”
“Look, if you want, we can go out and look for her.”
Josie dropped her gaze to the floor in thought before looking back at the door, she really just wanted the door to open. There was no reason for Josie to be this paranoid, they just defeated the monster, another one never showed up that quickly. Hope was strong and capable, she was a hero, she was left talking to a goddess, there was no reason for Josie to be worried about her. That didn’t stop the nagging feeling in the pit of stomach.
“What’s up?” Rafael asked, appearing beside the girls. Josie heard Lizzie greet him, but she kept her eyes on the door.
“Hopes still not back?” Landon asked, walking up beside Rafael. Josie spared him a glance to see he was in the same position as her, staring at the closed door. “How long has it been?”
“An hour,” Josie mumbled. She watched as Landon’s eyes widened, his eyebrows scrunching up. “I’m not being paranoid, am I?”
Landon looked at Josie and lightly shook his head. “I’m going out there.”
“Whoa, where are you going,” Hayley asked, coming out of nowhere, Caroline trailing behind her.
“Hopes not back yet,” Landon said, flinging the door open and stepping out onto the porch.
Josie stepped out the door, right beside him. She looked, searching the tree line for any signs of Hope but there was nothing. “We have to go look for her,” Josie said, turning to face Hayley. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
Hayley stared into Josie’s eyes for a moment, Josie silently begging her to agree the entire time. Josie didn’t need Hayley to come with, she didn’t need anyone to, she could go out in search for Hope all on her own, but having help would be nice. Josie didn’t know what she’d be walking into and having a hybrid by her side could be useful, Josie might be well equipped in the magic department, but she couldn’t pick up Hopes scent the way Hayley or Rafael could. Josie didn’t have to worry about anything though because eventually Hayley nodded.
“I’m coming with,” Landon said, leaving no room for argument.
Landon trudged out the door leading everyone back out into the woods. Josie didn’t think it was necessary for them all to go, really just her and Hayley would have been fine, but she knew Landon wouldn’t back down. Rafael was probably most likely coming because Hope had saved his life, again, and he felt he owed her an even bigger debt now. Josie was happy to have Lizzie and her mom at her side though, it was nice and the fact that she didn’t even have to ask made it even better. She knew Lizzie believed everything was fine, but Josie saw that small hint of worry in her eyes, the last time everything had been fine, and they didn’t question things, everything wasn’t fine, Hope and Lizzie had been captured.
The walk back to the clearing seemed a lot shorter than the first time or even the walk back. Josie crossed her arms as her eyes darted all around the woods. She didn’t have wolf or vampire hearing, but she knew something was off, there wasn’t a single sound she could hear, not even crickets.
“Do you hear anything?” She whispered to Hayley, afraid what her answer might be.
Hayley pushed forward, stepping next to Josie. “No,” her eyes became yellow, darting around their surroundings.
“Same,” Caroline said, moving to stand next to Josie. “Any chance she went home or wandered off somewhere else?”
“No,” Josie and Landon said at the same time, giving each other a knowing look.
“She said she’d be right behind me,” Josie said. If Hope told her she would be right behind her then she’d be right behind her. Hope did prefer to go home or sometimes go for a run after a stressful day, but never before she said goodbye to Josie.
When they finally got to the clearing Josie nearly bumped into her mom and Hayley, both had come to a sudden stop out of nowhere. Josie stepped around them, looking in the direction their eyes were glued. There was nothing, just a now empty clearing.
“What?” Josie asked, searching her mom's face for any hint of what could possibly be wrong.
“Blood,” is all Hayley said.
Josie’s eyes widened, snapping them back to the clearing as she searched for the blood they were smelling, even though she knew there was no way she could find it. “Where?”
“Here!” Rafael called out.
Josie turned to see Rafael had been slowly making his way further into the clearing. He was kneeling, his hand pressed into the dirt as he studied what Josie assumed was the blood. Josie slowly made her way towards him. She brought a hand to her mouth as she looked over his shoulder.
“What?” Landon asked shoving through to get a look. His face fell at the puddle of blood.
“There’s more here,” Rafael pointed to the right. “And there,” he pointed again.
Josie’s eyes moved from one puddle of blood to the next. There were four puddles total, all close together as if the person who was wounded was in that spot, allowing their blood to pool, like they were forced to stay in that same spot or they were to injured to move. Josie looked to her mom and Hayley, looking for someone to have an idea as to what might have happened and where Hope could possibly be. She saw her mom crouched down pointing to something in the dirt as she talked to Hayley, to quiet for her human ears to pick up.
“What?” Josie asked, making her way over to them. Caroline stood up, brushing off her hands as she shared a look with Hayley who gave her a small nod. “What?” She asked again. She silently begged her mom to tell her what she found. When Caroline looked at her, her eyes holding nothing but sympathy, it was the same look she had when she first left on recruitment missions, the same look she had every time Josie and Lizzie left after a visit.
“There’s drag marks,” Caroline said, as soft as she could, watching and waiting for Josie’s reaction.
“What!” Josie shoved past her mom and Hayley, looking down at the dirt, to see a shallow imprint in the dirt. She bent down seeing blood smeared in the drag marks. “What happened?” She asked more to herself.
“Triad,” Landon said, his voice void of any emotion.
“How do you know?” Hayley asked, furrowing her brow. Josie didn’t doubt Landon, but she couldn’t blame Hayley for asking, there was no evidence of Triad anywhere.
“This is what they do,” Landon walked into the middle of the clearing, looking at Rafael where the blood was then to Josie and the others where the drag marks were. “Can you do that spell?” Landon looked at Josie who raised an eyebrow, there were so many spells. “The one that allows us to see what happened?”
Josie opened her mouth, hesitating to say yes. “I was only able to do that because there were traces of magic left,” she said. “This,” she gestured to the empty area around them, “wasn’t a witch.”
Landon sighed, scratching his head as he looked back and forth. “Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll try and explain.”
Landon walked over to Rafael, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him to his feet. “Face this way,” he directed Rafael to where he wanted him to stand. Rafael glanced at Landon as he walked back to where Josie was but did as asked and didn’t leave his position. He stood in front of Josie, looking at Rafael’s back. “There was a shot,” he walked forward, lightly punching Rafael in the shoulder, “here.” He punched Rafael’s other shoulder, “And here.” Josie furrowed her brow as she tried to follow along. “Then they probably took out her legs,” he gently kicked the back of Rafael’s legs so that he collapsed to the ground. Rafael shot him a glare but didn’t say anything.
Landon walked around so he was standing in front of Rafael. He looked past Rafael at the rest of the group. “There was probably a team of a dozen agents, maybe less. They probably injected her with wolfsbane,” he slapped Rafael’s neck. “And when she was down, they dragged her,” he followed the drag marks from the blood to where the others were standing. “Where they had a container waiting. Landon looked at the others, raising an eyebrow as he seemed to wait for their reaction.
“That’s very specific,” Lizzie said. “For someone who wasn’t even here.”
Landon rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, probably ready to snap at Lizzie. “How can, you be sure?” Hayley asked, stepping between the two, trying to be the mediator as usual.
“It’s standard tactic,” Landon answered. “It’s how all agents are taught. Roll up quietly, disable your target so they can’t run or fight back, knock them out, then lock them up.”
“Why not come after you?” Lizzie asked. “With her clearly out of commission, it would be easy for them to storm the castle and grab the damsel in distress.”
“Who cares,” Joie said, cutting off whatever Landon was about to say. She saw Landon frown out of the corner of her eye, she’d have to remember to apologize later. “We need to focus on getting Hope back. Who knows what they’re already doing to her.”
“How to you expect to find her?” Rafael asked. He had left position Landon and put him in and came to join the rest of the group. “You can’t track her; she’s made that impossible at this point.”
Josie sighed, trying to contain an eyeroll. There were times she hated how good her girlfriend was at being on the run. Josie couldn’t blame her, Hope had to make sure Triad couldn’t ever find her or Landon. Considering how often she seemed to get kidnapped though, Josie wished she’d make it a bit easier for her and their friends to find her. If Hope could just provide Josie with a personal GPS so she could find her when these situations popped up, she’d really appreciate it, it would certainly make life easier, and getting Hope back safely quicker. Last time Hope and Lizzie were captured they weren’t able to track them, even without Hope blocking everyone, Amber also kept them hidden, the only reason they got away was because they rescued themselves. This wasn’t just some random Triad witch this time and this time Hope was alone, there was a chance she couldn’t save herself, and she shouldn’t have to. Josie thought of potential ways they could find Hope when her head snapped up, her eyes lighting up with the obvious realization.
“We ask a Triad agent,” Josie said, then walked off back towards the school.
Josie heard shuffling as they others seemed to recover from her lack of explanation as they tried to catch up to her. Everyone seemed to be talking at the same time, all of them asking her questions, but she ignored them all. Josie walked as quickly as she could back to the school, flinging open the doors and marching right up the stairs to the dorms. Josie’s pace didn’t relent until she finally came to a stop outside the door she wanted, she brought her fist up, giving a few not so gently knocks. She tapped her foot as the seconds ticked by until the door finally opened.
“I need you to call you mom,” Josie said, staring at MG before he even greeted her.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lizzie whispered.
Josie ignored her sister, pushing past MG and into his room. “Call you mom now,” she said again.
“What’s going on?” MG asked, looking from Josie to the others who had piled into his room. He was already pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Hopes been taken.” Josie watched as MG scrolled through his contacts, his thumb freezing when she said those words. “By Triad.” MG looked at her with concern, Josie just glanced down at his phone, which he luckily got the message. Josie appreciated that he was worried about her, worried about Hope, but she really needed him to just call his mom.
“Hey, mom,” MG said with a shaky voice as the other party seemed to pick up their phone. “Something happened,” he glanced at Josie who refused to take her eyes off of him as he made the call. “We need your help… I need your help.” MG nodded along to whatever his mom was saying. “Thank you, see you soon… love you too.” With that he hung up, turning back to Josie who raised an eyebrow. “She’s on her way,” he said, his voice still a little shaky. “She’ll be here within the hour.”
“Thank you,” Josie said, giving MG a quick hug before she made her way out of his room. MG loved his mom, he loved both his parents but when he learned his mom was basically in charge of Triad it hurt their relationship, Josie wasn’t sure how they’d recover from it. She knew MG wanted to forgive his mom and get her back in his life, but he hadn’t actually talked to his mom since that night, the night Hope threatened her life if she were to ever return again.
Josie waited in the den, staring at the fireplace as she waited for MG’s mom to arrive. Lizzie had her hands folded as she rested her chin on them, staring off into space. Josie wanted to comfort her sister, she had no idea what was going through Lizzie’s mind, she just knew she was thinking about what happened with Amber. Landon sat next to Josie; she didn’t know what his face looked like, but she could feel the vibrations from how quickly he was bouncing his leg. Rafael was next to Landon, resting a hand on his brother’s shoulder as he tried to offer some sort of comfort. Josie could feel her moms’ eyes on her, but she ignored it, she couldn’t deal with her mom trying to comfort her and be there for her, at the moment she just needed to get her girlfriend back.
“Mom,” MG said, the door creaking as he opened it before she could knock.
Josie was on her feet and in the hallway within the blink of an eye. Mrs. Greasley was still in the doorway hugging her son when Josie appeared. Josie stayed back, allowing MG to have this moment with his mom. When they finally released Mrs. Greasley’s eyes instantly found Josie’s.
“Hope’s gone,” Josie said, not bothering to waste time on a meaningless greeting.
Mrs. Greasley gave a comforting rub to her son’s shoulder before stepping past him and fully into the school. “And what makes you think I can help with that?”
Josie tilted her head, glaring at the woman. She may be MG’s mom but if she didn’t help Josie get Hope back then Josie was going to show her exactly what a witch was capable of.
“Mom,” MG said, interfering before Josie could set his mom on fire or toss her through the door she had just come through.
“I stepped down,” Mrs. Greasley said, offering her son a small smile. “Not long after the last time I was here.”
“You quit?” MG couldn’t contain his smile, instantly wrapping his mom in another hug, she nodded and happily returned his hug. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t want to push you,” she melted into the hug, hugging him like she might not get another chance like this. “I wanted to wait until you were ready to see me again.”
“You have to know something,” Josie interrupted, not caring if it seemed rude, her girlfriend was missing, and MG could have a moment with his mom after they rescued her.
“I don’t,” she assured.
“What about contacts? Anything!”
“Sweety,” Caroline said, vamping over to her daughter. She tried to rest a hand on Josie’s shoulder but the second her fingers grazed Josie she stepped out of reach.
“Is there anything you can do?” MG asked. “Please,” he begged.”
Mrs. Greasley looked back at her son, resting a hand on his cheek before finally nodding. Josie let out a sigh of relief, she didn’t know how much Mrs. Greasley could actually do if she had truly left Triad but at least it was something.
“I still have a few friends,” she said, looking to Josie. “I’ll make some calls.”
Josie nodded, not trusting her voice. Josie wasn’t sure if she would threaten the woman, thank her, or breakdown into tears. Josie was throwing all her attention into finding Hope, if her full focus wasn’t on that, she didn’t know what would happen.
Josie went back to the den, this time watching Mrs. Greasley as she paced in front of the window. Josie tracked the woman back and forth, watching every movement, waiting for any hint of her potentially betraying them. She knew Mrs. Greasley loved her son but there was no way Josie was ever going to trust the woman after last time, even if she had left Triad, it just meant she was a good mother who cared about having a relationship with her son, not that she was good person.
It felt like hours, but Mrs. Greasley finally got off the phone and made her way over to the waiting group. Josie was once again on her feet instantly; she crossed her arms as she waited to hear the news.
“Triad has Hope,” is the first thing Mrs. Greasley said.
“Yeah, we already know that,” Lizzie snarked, with an eyeroll.
“It was a sanctioned mission, but they aren’t taking her straight back to Triad yet.”
“Where are they taking her?” Hayley asked with a furrowed brow.
“A…” she held her mouth open as she glanced from her son to each of the others in the room. “Safe house,” she said slowly.
A shiver ran down Josie’s spine, there was no way a safe house actually meant a safe house. They were holding Hope some place terrible before they shipped her off back to a real Triad facility. Hope was strong and she had hurt Triad a lot, killed a lot of their people, it wasn’t a surprise they would want her weakened and broken by the time they officially got her back.
“Here’s the address,” Mrs. Greasley said, handing Hayley a slip of paper. “Be careful, the agent in charge… he’s not a good guy.”
“Since when is anyone in Triad good?” Josie said.
“He’s different. He is arguably one of the best agents Triad has ever had.” Josie rolled her eyes, of course they sent their top agent, which wasn’t exactly surprising information. “He’s also one of the most despicable human beings I’ve ever met.”
“That’s even more reason to get a move on,” Landon said, already walking to the front door. “Let’s go.”
“No,” Josie said.
“No?” Landon stepped back down into the den.
Josie stepped up, meeting Landon, staring him down as she said, “You’re not coming.”
“Like hell,” he snapped. “She’s, my family.”
“Which is why I’m not delivering you to Triads doorstep.” Landon clenched his jaw but didn’t argue back. “Hope would never forgive me if they got their hands on you again.” Landon’s eyes fell to the floor, nodding in agreement. “Hayley and I will go. You stay here, where you’re safe,” she rested a hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to nod again.
“I’m coming with you,” Lizzie said.
“You’re not going alone,” Caroline said at the same time.
“Me and Hayley are the only ones going,” Josie said, turning to face her family. They all glanced at Hayley who just shrugged and stepped back, not wanting to be in the middle of their family drama. “Everyone else needs to be here in case they use the opportunity to come and get Landon.”
“It’s not safe,” Caroline stepped forward, forcing Josie to meet her stare. “You heard her, this guy that took Hope is bad news.”
“I’m not asking,” Josie looked at her mom with wide eyes. “I’m capable of taking care of myself.”
“I know,” Caroline whispered.
“I’ll have Hayley there the whole time.”
Caroline looked at Hayley. “I promise, I’ll keep her safe,” Hayley said.
“I’m doing this,” Josie said softly.
Caroline stared into her eyes, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. She closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh before reluctantly nodding.
“Thank you,” Josie whispered, pulling her mom into a hug. Caroline instantly wrapped her arms around her daughter, squeezing her as tight as her vampire strength would allow without crushing her. Lizzie quickly joined the hug, allowing Josie to melt and just enjoy the rare moment.
“I’ll get her back,” Josie direct at Landon.
“I know,” Landon nodded. Josie gave him a quick hug before following Hayley out the door, slipping into the passenger seat of her car as they took off to rescue Hope.