Hope had learned to stop flinching every time she pulled the trigger. Now, every shot she fired was couple with a stoney, determined face. 

“Good,” Alaric said, eyeing her stance. “You’re getting better.”

“I was a natural to start with.”

It was just them that morning. With Lizzie feeling as unpredictable as she was, she didn’t want to be anywhere near guns. Josie had offered to stay with her so she wasn’t alone. 

When Hope had left the house, both Landon and MG were both asleep, but at least when they woke up, they wouldn’t be alone either.

That was Hope’s latest plan. Stay in pairs. Stay off social media. Don’t even bring in any suspicious packages. She was going to ice this stalker out if it was the last thing she did, and if they decided to take things into their own hands and make her to notice, well …

Bang.

A bullseye.

There was only one loose thread in her plan. Rafael. Nobody had heard from him after he stormed out last night. Hope was sure he was mad, but she didn’t like not knowing that he made it home safe. 

So the next step in her plan was stopping by his house. Whether he wanted to see her or not, she needed to know he was okay and she had some things she needed to say. He wouldn’t have a choice.

Hope was done being the weak, accepting woman - in her relationships and in her war with her stalker. She was giving him a time limit before she told Landon about her feelings - and inevitably, his - and if he didn’t take the opportunity, that was his choice.

She clenched her jaw tighter as she fired off the last of her rounds. 

“You feeling more confident with it?” Alaric asked as they cleaned up.

“Yeah.” Hope was confident that when the time came, she wouldn't hesitate or fumble to use it.

“Then your last step is taking a course so you can conceal carry it. Don’t worry, it’s easy. Easier than it should be.”

Hope nodded. “The one Matt Donovan does, right?”

“I’m glad at least one of my daughters listens to me.”

Hope smiled a little, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She was just about to say her goodbyes when her phone rang. 

“Speak of the devil …” she murmured, showing Alaric the screen. “Hello, Matt.”

“Mrs. Mikaelson, we tried to reach your husband. Are you with him right now?”

Hope furrowed her eyebrows. “No.”

“It’s about his brother.”

“Ryan?” Hope’s heart dropped to her feet. She was already dreading the worst. She started to chew on her nail as she waited for Matt to just say that Ryan wouldn’t be waking up.

“No, Rafael.”

“What?” If Hope’s heart had dropped to her feet before, now it was at the center of the earth. 

“He was found early this morning.”

“Found where?” Hope demanded. It wasn’t the question she wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to that one. Was he found alive?

“Maybe it’s best if the both of you just come down to the station.”

“Just tell me what’s happened to him.”

“Hope …”

“Don’t make me put Alaric on the phone.”

“He was attacked last night. They want to do an autopsy to put together a profile of his attacker.” 

The world stopped. Hope couldn’t answer his questions. She could barely hear him. She barely registered when Alaric came over. She couldn’t hear his questions, and she didn’t acknowledge when he took the phone from her and started talking to Matt. 

She sat down on the ground. It should’ve felt hard or cold or something, but she was numb. Rafael was dead. It was probably her fault. Her stalker had lied about the three days. She was such an idiot to ever believe otherwise, and the last thing she’d done with Rafael was fight with him. 

Growing in the pit of her stomach, heavy and sharp, was a feeling that there was no coming back from this.