***

It felt like we've been here four hours. It was probably only thirty minutes, though. We've been trying to get out of here, but nothing was working. Hope and I were trying to take off the chains, but they weren't budging. Mom remained hopeful that we could. She was just that type of person. She always supported us no matter what. I don't know what I would do without her. I just can't help think that this is my fault. If I hadn't done what I did, we wouldn't be in the situation right now.

"Keep trying. You can do it." Mom encouraged us.

Hoppe stopped trying, "God, this is impossible!" She exhaled.

I put my head in my hands with a sigh, "I'm such an idiot. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for all of this."

Mom shook her head, "It's not your fault. Skye, this... This is all Greta."

"We just, we thought that we were actually gonna fix it by doing the binding spell." Hope told her. Right, I almost forgot about that. It seems like forever ago, now.

"You weren't really gonna do it, were you?" Mom asked. I said nothing. I knew that she was going to be disappointed by my answer. I don't want to disappoint her more than I probably already did.

Hope was the one who answered, "No, we were. But Dad stopped us at the last minute."

Mom smiled, "You dad does have timing," I could feel myself tearing up. Mom sighed, "Girls, promise me that you won't try again, that you won't ever deny any part of yourselves. Promise me."

"Aunt Freya said that you didn't want us to trigger our werewolf side." Hope said.

I scrunched my eyebrows together, "Why's that?"

Mom looked away from us. She had a thoughtful look on her face, "It's... Complicated. And having all 206 bones crack in your body sucks, it really does. But when you're running through the woods, under a full moon, with no thought of pain or... Or trouble, just freedom... There is no greater feeling in the world."

Hope took a deep breath, "I am so stupid. I... I actually thought that he liked me."

I looked over at my sister. Seeing her like this made me want to cry more. I elbowed her lightly to get her attention. I gave her a soft look, "Hey, you're not stupid. I fell for it, too, okay? Don't worry."

"Hope, if..," Mom trailed off, "If we all judged ourselves by the mistakes we've made with the men in our lives, we would never, ever get any peace."

"Nowhere to go but up, I guess," She tried looking on the bright side. I was glad she was. She didn't deserve to feel like this, "I just, I hate that I can't get us out of here."

"I'm sure Aunt Freya is looking for all three of us by-" Mom started.

I looked down at my clasped hands, "Um, well..." I trailed off.

"We cloaked Roman and ourselves, so there's no way for her to find us," Hope explained, "And we can't do magic with these stupid chains on," Suddenly, a look of realization came upon my twin's face. She whispered, "Wait."

"What?" Mom inquired.

"It's a really bad idea, but... There may be a way to call for help." Hope said.

I turned to look at her, "Are we going to die in this plan of yours?" Hope looked unsure. That gave me my answer. I let out a sigh and shrug. It was the only plan we had, "Then, let's do this."

It was awhile later when Roman came back. Hope had explained the plan and it seemed like a pretty decent plan. Hopefully, we would do it right and nothing will go wrong. We couldn't afford for all of this to go wrong. Not now. Any time, but now.

"Who'd you call?" Hope asked Roman. She stood up and I remain seated for now. No point in getting up.

"My sister." He responded.

"Oh, there are more of you? Great." Hope snapped.

I glared at him and cross my arms over my chest, "As if one wasn't enough."

"Listen, I don't know what's happening here." Roman told us.

Hope looked at him with a slight pleading look, "Then let us go."

Roman looked sad almost, "I can't."

I finally stood up and stared at him with flaming anger in my eyes, "Why not?" He said nothing to answer my question. He didn't even give a gesture to answer. I shook my head, pathetic. For someone who tricked both me and my sister, he really didn't think much about his actions, did he?

"Then we'll give Greta what she wants," Mom started. Hope and I share a defeated look. I turn my gaze to look in front of me. Avoiding any eyes that might be on me, "Call your witch. We'll do the binding spell."

***

The witch didn't take long to get here. She didn't try to chat with us or Roman. She just immediately started getting everything ready. I can't believe we were actually doing this. The witch sat in front of our mom and was chanting the spell. She was holding pliers which had a very hot stone. Mom was screaming and steam was coming from her skin as she burned her hand. It was hurting me to see my mother like this. I looked away and put my head on Hope's shoulder for some type of comfort.

Mom panted, "It's a... Piece of cake."

"Liar." Hope called her out. The witch continued to chant her spell. She was heating the stone up with the fire she had started. The witch stepped toward Mom, again.

"Look away, Girls," Mom ordered, "Hope, Skye, look away." We did so. I was going to look away before she even said that. It hurt to see her like this, to hear her scream like this. It was the type of emotional pain that you felt hit you right in the heart. When the witch brought the stone away, Mom's head fell back. There was a huge welt on her forehead where the stone touched. Her head rolled to her shoulder and she looked like she had a hard time staying conscious.

Roman leaned toward the witch, "How do we know if it worked?"

The witch untied one of Mom's hands. She brought it toward the sunlight. The flesh started sizzling and smoke rose from it, "See? Nothing but a vampire now." Mom nodded at Hope and I, it was time. Mom jumped up and bit the witch.

Roman was shocked, "Hey, stop!"

I snapped his neck and stared down at him, "That's for my sister."

"Let's go, let's go," Hope said. Mom wiggled out of her restraints and we went to the door. Hope opened it and the sunlight hit our face. I immediately stopped, no. Hope realized, too, "Wait. You can't."

Mom shook her head, "No. But you two can."

"What?" I couldn't believe it. Did she know this whole time? Did she think that we were just going to up and leave her? "Mom, no!"

"We're not going without you." Hope shook her head. Mom had her hands on our shoulders now.

I thought back to when I kidnapped her, "I cloaked you as a hybrid. The second you finished that spell, Freya's beacon started flipping out. They know where to find us now. Okay? We're not going to leave you. We don't leave anyone behind. We're all getting out of here." I wouldn't leave her no matter what.

Her hand rose up to my cheek, "And I will be fine, Skye. But it all makes sense now. They could have killed me at any time, and they didn't. It's you two that they want." I grabbed her hand that was on my cheek.

"No, we can take care of ourselves." Hope told her.

"No," Mom wouldn't listen, "It's not your strength that they're afraid of. You are Mikaelson witches with a werewolf mother and an Original father. You both are the ones that could finally unite all the factions," She really thought that? She believed in us so much, "And that goes against everything that they believe in. They thrive on hatred, and you... You, my sweet girls, are their worst fear. Which means you have to go," I was about to protest, but Mom stopped me, "Yes, you have to go. You have to leave now," Mom brought us in for a hug, "I love you. Now. Go."

I didn't want to leave. Mom looked over to Hope. Hope grabbed my arm and started leading me out. I just couldn't look away from Mom. How was I supposed to leave her? What if something happened to her? It would be my fault because of what I've done. I eventually turned myself around, but Greta stood there. I let out a gasp when she blew something in my face. I fell to the ground with a thud and all I saw was darkness.

***

I was hearing voices of alarm. Someone sounded scared. I don't know what happened. I could feel myself start to wake up. I wasn't laying on the ground anymore, but on a soft surface. A bed. When did I get here? I don't remember laying on a bed. The last thing I remember was seeing Greta and passing out in the house... So how did I get here? "What the-" My voice sounded hoarse. I still felt tired. I brought a hand up to my head and sat up, "What happened?"

"Skye?" I hear a voice say. I looked over to see Aunt Freya comforting a crying Hope. I looked at them in confusion. Why do they look so sad?

I looked between them, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"I'm here." Aunt Freya slowly stood up.

I could feel myself starting to panic. I needed to calm down before I pass out, but I couldn't. Something was wrong. I felt it. "How did we get here? Where's Mom?" Hope seemed to cry more after that question, "Why's Hope crying?"

Aunt Freya stepped toward me like I was some scared animal, "Breathe. You're safe now."

I could feel my hands shaking now. My eyes stung like they usually did when I panicked a lot. I shook my head furiously, "No, Aunt Freya, what happened? Where is our mom? What's wrong?" Aunt Freya went to say something, most likely something that was supposed to comfort me, "Where's Mom?"

She sat on the bed in front of me, "She's gone."

I felt my eyes widen. What did she mean by gone? Mom couldn't be gone. She wouldn't let that happen. "What? No, she's not. She's not-" Aunt Freya gave me a sad look. I couldn't handle it. I just couldn't. I started hyperventilating and a few tears escaped my eyes, "But- No- She can't-"

"Skye, calm down." Aunt Freya put her hands on my shoulders.

"She's not gone!" I screamed. There was no way my mom was dead. She wouldn't just do that. "Okay? She can't be gone!" She promised that she wouldn't leave me or Hope. She wouldn't leave us! "We still need her! I still need her!" I needed her so bad. She was one of the only ones that helped me  get through Dad leaving. "She just... She ca-" My voice cut off and I start sobbing. Aunt Freya brought me into a hug. Hope came over and hugged me, as well. I just saw her, how could she be dead? I looked at my bedside to see the picture of Mom, Hope, and I. It was on mine and Hope's birthday. This just made me cry even more.