𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄
from the ashes i rose, and i stitched the pieces of my soul back together with gold

HOPE WOKE UP with a gasp, her blue eyes widening and she stood up quickly, surveying her surroundings.

The basement was pitch black; she was as blind as if her eyes had been gouged. Her body washed cold. She brought her fingers to her eye sockets; they were still there. She turned back to the stairs and tried to run up, but her foot fell through each one like it was a mere projection. And then she was falling through the air again, like she did when she first arrived in Malivore.

When she looked up, she found herself standing in front of Lizzie and Josie. Her blue eyes widened when the twins combined their hands and flung their hands out, and wind was trying to shove her back. Her nails were digging into the wood of the floor, trying to stop herself as she screamed at them to stop, but her words weren't being heard.

Screaming, she was flung back into a wall harshly, but once she hit it, she found herself sinking into it. She met the twins eyes and begged them to help her, but they just smirked.

Shouting, she was pulled fully into the wall, and was falling through the air again. When she landed this time, she was quick to look up, but when she did, she gasped and stumbled back.

In front of her was a mirror and her eyes widened at herself. Her eyes were glowing gold and she was covered in blood. Not just one person's blood from what she could smell, but dozens. Looking into her glowing blue eyes, her reflection smirked back at her before the mirror shattered, and she covered her face quickly.

An echo of a laugh surrounded her and she was knocked down. Looking up, she found herself staring into Caroline Forbes raging eyes.

"How dare you!" Caroline boomed, picked her up by her hair, and flung her into a wall.

Hope shouted out in pain and landed harshly on the ground. Or what she thought was the ground, but lifting her hand, she found fresh blood sticking to it.

Gasping, Hope stumbled back, but she kept slipping in blood. She was sobbing now as if she already knew what had happened.

"You did this!" Caroline screamed and that's when dozens and dozens of bodies were revealed.

Hope cried out as sobs rippled through her body, and she fell back onto her butt. Laying in front of her was the bodies of her friends. Lizzie's and Landon's eyes wide open as they stared into her soul.

Suddenly, they all sat up and she stumbled back some more. "You did this to us, Hope," their voices echoed together, and she found herself not being able to breathe. "You killed us. And you liked it!" They screamed so loud that she went flying back, but before she could hit the wall, she was grabbed roughly by the arm, and she was spun around to face someone she thought she would never see again.

"Dad!" She shouted, her voice breaking and wavering as she stared into his blue eyes.

"You deserve this, you pathetic runt. You are not the daughter I wanted. You're a disgrace, a failure, a monster! You are not a Mikaelson!" Klaus shouted in her face before his face contorted into his hybrid features. He smirked and licked his lips. "You are nothing! Nothing!" And with that, he sunk his teeth into her throat, and sucked her dry even with her screaming and begging for him to stop.

Her body fell to the ground, and the last thing she saw was her father standing over her body with a wicked grin on his features.

His voices echoed through her mind. You are nothing.

"Hope!" Someone shouted and she was shook awake. She gasped, looking around at her surroundings with wide, wild eyes. "Hope?" She looked up and sucked in a breath, her vision finally returning to normal.

"Clarke?" She whispered out, her voice cracking, and tears running down her cheeks like a never ending waterfall. "I—" She trialed off and then glanced around them again. They were under the trees, exactly the same place they were before she fell asleep. "I thought—" She lifted her hands up to her face, in-between them, to find that they were not covered in blood. She took in a shaky breath and whispered, "I killed them." She kept staring at her hands as if the blood would just appear. "I killed them." Her hands were shaking now and she bit her lip so hard that it began to bleed. "An — and he killed me. I died. I—"

"You're okay," Clarke said softly and grabbed her shaking hands in his. "You're alive and you're fine. It was just a nightmare." When she looked up at him with such vulnerable eyes, he sucked in a breath. "Everyone back home is fine. You're fine."

"How do you know?" She sniffled, gulping.

Clarke frowned and furrowed his brows. "I just do. Okay?" Without thinking, he lifted his right hand and started wiping away her tears. "It was just a nightmare. It's not real."

"I killed them all," she told him and as his hand paused on her cheek, she leaned into it subconsciously. Neither of them paid attention to the warmth flowing throughout them from the touch. "I don't — I don't know how. I just know... I was a full tribrid. I saw my eyes. I saw..." She trailed off and more tears flowed down her face. "My dad," she choked out. "My dad was there. He called me a runt. He said that I—" She shook her head. "And then he killed me. He sucked me dry. He—"

"Hey, hey," Clarke whispered and wiped her tears away again, even though more kept flowing down her beautiful features. "It's not real, remember? He's probably proud of you. Okay? Your dad—"

"Is dead," she mumbled and he froze. "He is dead because of me. He died for me." She sniffled and neither of them noticed as she started rubbing circles on his left palm. "And my mother—" She choked back a sob, shaking her head. "She died because of me." She sucked in a breath and looked up at him through her lashes and tears. "Everyone I end up caring for... they die."

Clarke stated quiet as he listened to her speak. Maybe he was wrong to judge her before getting to know her. She had a screwed up life just like him. But, instead of him, she shone bright like the sun, while he was stuck in the darkness.

"You don't understand, Clarke," she told him after a moment of silence. "My mom, my dad, my uncle; they're all dead because of me. I'm toxic. Anyone who ends up close to me dies."

Clarke wanted to say, 'maybe it's a good thing i'm not close to you' but instead, he said, "Don't be selfish. You still have plenty of people that care for you back there. I don't." He lowered his hand from her fade and pulled away from her with narrowed eyes.

Hope sucked in a breath and stared him in the eyes for a few seconds, fully seeing him without his mask on. "I'm sorry," she whispered before wiping her tears away. "I didn't—" She shook her head and stood up, facing away from him, trying her best to not give away the fact that her heart was breaking even more. "We should get moving. We don't want to stay in one place too long."

"Fuck," Clarke whispered to himself harshly as Hope walked away from him. He knew he screwed up. He should've comforted her more instead of being a dick. Instead of apologizing though, he silently got up and followed her, feeling bad when he hears silent sobs escape her.