what was hope doing in your dreams?

"Yesterday, I came into possession of another Malivore artifact. It was my hope to find a method of containment before it signaled another monster, but given the emergency meeting I've just called, I'm sure you can guess how well that went." Said Alaric Saltzman. The entire school was having yet another meeting. It felt like we were having a lot of those recently.

Landon leans over to me and Rafael. "Do you see Hope anywhere?" The two of us look around, but see no sign of Hope.

"But rest assured we are taking every precaution. Sheriff Donovan has been kind enough to open the doors of the Lockwood Mansion to us, as well as Ms. King opening her estate to us also, so Mr. Williams and Ms. Tig are now in the process of evacuating our students from the lower grades."

"Why don't we just evacuate the damn artifact?" Asks Kaleb.

"We are much more well-equipped than the world at large to handle the arrival of a monster." Alaric retorts. "Once we know what we're dealing with and the problem is contained, then we can reassess what to do with the artifact. If any of you would like to evacuate, please talk to Dorian or Emma. However, exam week will continue as scheduled, wherever you are." All of us groan in annoyance. "I know. I'm sorry. I can't exactly call the state accreditation board and tell them that we're cancelling the exams because of monsters." He explains. "We'll get through this, I promise. Try and get some rest, okay? Good night."

I approach Mr. S when the crowd disperses. "My mom has estate in Mystic Falls?" I ask.

"She's had it since the 1300's." Alaric sighs. "She just wanted to help as much as she can from Africa."

He walks off, but I follow. "What is she doing in Africa? Shouldn't she be worried about her daughters safety?"

"I'm sure she is but she's helping others in other countries, Anastasia, now go to bed." He demands as he heads back to his office.

I scoff, rolling my eyes. "My mother."

♚

Walking to class, I listen to a soft song through my headphones, a voice all to familiar behind me.

"Stasia."

I freeze in my tracks. Exhaling slowly, I turn to face the girl I've had a crush on since I came to this school. Josie Saltzman. "Why are you here?" I hiss.

She begins to walk closer; her brown hair shines from the windows. "Because I wanted to see you. To explain that what happened was a mistake. And that you're the only girl I need."

"Then why didn't you-" Josie cuts me off, kissing me harshly. My small body slams into the nearby wall. I'm surprised by her dominance, if I'm being honest.

I begin to kiss back, my hand landing on her cheek. When I'm suddenly snapped out of it by a loud BANG.

I nearly jump out of my skin, looking to see who it is. "No."

Mikael Mikaelson. My fathers worst nightmare. My own worst nightmare. I never met him. Never wanted to. I had used my
magic enough to learn what he had done to my family. And it was wrong. So wrong.

"You're a bastard baby, useless one at that. Just like your father."

"Get away from me." I look for Josie, but she's gone. "Stay away!" I speed out of there, my
feet carrying me as fast as they can.

"You're weak! Nothing! You're a sorry excuse for a tribrid! You deserve that steak through your pathetic heart!"

I scream, my magic sending him into a wall. "What do you want from me!"

A misty breeze flows through the room. I turn around and see a tall, thin woman with claw-like nails. Her face is covered by a veil; but it didn't take me that much to realize her face was covered in age and discoloration. She was horrific.

"You know what I want!"

I turn at her with an exasperated look. "What do you-" I'm cut off by an immense pain. I whimper, slowly looking down at me. A steak, shoved through my abdomen. My voice trembles as I turn to look back at the woman.

But she's gone.

♚

My eyes shoot open. The pain still very much there. I quiver as I slowly sit up, yelling in pain. My feet land on the ground, and I slowly limp
towards the main parts of the school.

I find Raf, who shoots up in his seat. He hisses in pain, looking at his arm. It looked almost as if he had been beaten. I cry out, the wound not healing. His head snaps over in my direction; his eyes fill with concern. "Annie! What happened to you?" He rushes over, trying to figure it out.

"I-I dont know!" I tremble, my knees giving out. Rafael catches my fall, picking me up bridal style, carrying me off.

♚

"This happened to you both in a nightmare?" Alaric asks. I had finally healed up with the help of vampire blood, but Hope and Ric were both very worried. "Are you sure?"

I nod at him. "I don't think my mattress can shank me." I retort.

Raf clicks his tongue. "Look, I know that it sounds crazy, but I was studying and then I fell asleep, and then I just started dreaming about-"

"About what?" Hope asks.

"Um..." Raf looks between my sister and I. "Um...One of my old, uh, foster dads. He was in the library, and he had this old belt that he used to use on me."

Alaric asks him a question. "Do you remember anything else?" He looks at the both of us.

"Yeah, there was, there was this woman there, too."

I look at Raf. "She was in my dream too." I say. "She was wearing an old, black dress and-and a veil."

"And she told me, You know what I want. But-" Raf is cut off by Hope.

She looks at Dr. Saltzman. "The urn."

"Sounds like our next monster showed up."
Ric stands, approaching a set of books. "You know, every culture on Earth has legends about creatures that only appear in dreams. But a woman in a black dress and a veil is pretty specific." He points out, flipping through a book.

As Ric leans on his desk, Raf speaks up. "So, does that mean that she can, like, control what we see in our dreams? That she can put stuff in our, in our heads, right?" He stammers.

"It's possible." Alaric turns a sheet of paper towards us. "Does that look familiar?"

♚

I sigh as I walk by Raf after the meeting. A Night Hag. Amazing. Wonderful. Exactly what I wanted.

"So, what dream did miss Night Bitch kidnap you from?" He asks me.

Pursing my lips, I look up at him. "It was about Josie. Until she changed it into my evil grandfather trying to kill me."

Raf chuckles. "Our dreams weren't too different, huh?" His pearly whites glisten
as we share a smile.

"What was your dream about?" I ask him, "I know you said something about your foster dad, but there has to be more."

The werewolf pulls his lips between his teeth. "Oh, uh, it was just a girl." He brushes it off, laughing under his breath.

I frown. "Your ex?" He pauses, looking back at me.

"Uh, uh, yeah. Her." He clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll, uh, I'll see you later, Annie. Okay?" I smile, mumbling a yeah as he walks away.

♚

"A black-winged what?"

"Shapeshifting dream demon."

I sit next to MG and Kaleb. The three of us and Raf blinking at Landon and Hope.They explain the Night Hag isnt even a Night Hag. "I know it sounds bad, but now that we know what the creature is, we can fight it."

Raf speaks up. "How the hell are we supposed to kill a dream demon?"

lLeave that part to me. But since I can't fall asleep without compromising the location of the urn, I need someone else to pull it out of the dream plane and into our waking reality."

"So, Freddy Krueger. Like I said." MG adds.

"Wait, how the hell are we supposed to do that?"

MG stutters, "If it's anything like the movies, we just grab and pull."

Kaleb scoffs. "Yeah, okay. Is it too late to get on the, uh, evacuation bus?" He asks. Hope shakes her head at us.

"No. I mean, I'm not gonna ask all of you to stay for this, it has to be your choice."

Landon stands next to Hope. "I'm not leaving unless Hope does."

"We already know the answer to that, so," Hope sighs, looking at Raf.

Raf stands up. "I'm not leaving Landon behind."

"I'm a founding member of the Super Squad," Says MG. "So I can't bail."

I leap to my feet next to MG. "Obviously, I'm staying. This is the most exciting part of the whole semester!"

The group rolls their eyes at me, but we all turn to look at Kaleb. He leans against the table, arms crossed. "Y'all gonna get yourselves killed." He looks at his friend, letting out an annoyed sigh. "But if MG stays, I stay. No child left behind."

"In that case, it's naptime."

♚

Hope and I stand side by side, watching the boys get ready for their naps. "Thanks for not putting me to sleep." I confess. "I don't want to see something eat you in my dreams."

"I feel so loved." She hums. We look down at the four of them. "Which one do you think is going to get this thing out here?"

We watch Landon closely. "He already lived his nightmare." I say softly. "I think we both know." Suddenly, we here loud noises coming from the halls. "Well, thats our friend." I shrug, running off.

My sister and I rush to the location we knew the monster would be. Sure enough; the monster searches in the small nook behind the painting. "Annie, did I tell Landon the wrong hiding place for the urn?" She asks me playfully.

"You must've." I hum, smirking as I look back at the demon. "Oops." I shrug before running towards it.

Hope follows suit, the two of us sending it on its back. "Hope!"

She yells out a spell, causing me and the monster to fly backwards. I growl, my eyes glowing as I grip the creature, zooming off.

It stops our movements, grabbing my body, sending me flying through the doors. Hope does the same thing to the monster, the three of us rolling on the ground. The boys try to step in, "Stay back guys, we got this!" I shout, tackling the demon. The demon and I roll on the ground a few times, before it grabs my throat.

Hope tried to pull it off. "Hope!" Alaric shouts. "Eyes!" He tosses her an arrow. Hope grunts, breaking it in half and shoving it through the back of his skull, into his eyes. The arrow lands a few inches from my face, and I let out a relieved sigh. The monster slowly disperses, and my sister and I stumble back onto our feet.

"Landon was right." Says Kaleb. "Sexy as hell."

♚

I sit in the common area, curled up on a couch. "At least I'm the only one who can't sleep." I turn slowly to see Rafael. He gives me a small smile, heading towards the spot next to me. He sighs, slouching back in his new found spot. "You looked scary back there."

"Oh, yes. I'm ferocious." I half-heartedly joke. We share. laugh as I rest my head on my hand. "How are you doing?"

Raf looks back at me, his features softening. "I, uh, I'm just thinking about those dreams. The girls-"

"Girls? As in plural?" I ask him. He looks back at me, unsure what to say. "Didn't know you were such a player, Raf.

He chuckles, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah." His voice is a borderline whispers as he looks around the room. He looks back at me. "You want some hot chocolate?"

I furrow my brows. "I love hot cocoa."

"Then let's go make some, yeah?" He smiles. I giggle, following the werewolf down the hall, my blanket still wrapped around me.