𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐓 𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐃
my parents taught me everything, except how to live without them

MULTIPLE LOUD GROANS and thuds as two seperate groups of people feel from darkness, landing in a brightly lit room with a large screen that was a size of a whole wall.

"What in the bloody—"

"Oh, my god," a girl breathed out and stepped back as she noticed the group in front of her. Last time she had seen two of the people was at her graduation — she is now in college.

"Bloody hell!" A voice groaned out at the sight of the girl, rolling his brown eyes. "Not you again, you—"

"Watch what you're about to say," another voice stated as he stepped in front of his girlfriend, blue eye piercing.

"What are you going to do about it, Salvatore?"

"Kol, stop," an older blonde said, giving her younger brother a look. "We don't have time for this. We need to figure out where we are and..." her eyes widened as she spotted three people she never thought she would see again. Said three people had just died just days prior. "Oh, my god..."

"Klaus?" A voice whispered in shock before she sprinted to her older brother, pulling him into a hug. "How are you here right now?"

"I don't know." Klaus looked around at everyone, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the Scooby gang who was younger than he had expected. "What in the bloody hell is going on?"

"Is this not your doing?" Alaric harshly asked as he stepped slightly in front of the group, his eyes narrowed.

"No, of course it's not! My daughter needs—" he stopped talking and looked around at the group, trying to spot a specific person but couldn't find them. "Where is Hope?"

"Where's our daughter?!" Hayley exclaimed as she was also looking around the group for her daughter.

"Daughter?" Caroline mumbled to herself in confusion. "What?" Last time she had seen Klaus, he never said anything about a daughter before he simply disappeared from their lives.

Freya stepped forward with a frown. "She went back to the Salvatore school." She hesitated to continue but went on anyway, "You have been dead for a week now."

"Why is she back at that bloody school, we told you to take care of her!" Klaus shouted, clenching his jaw tightly as he glared at his sister. "Rebekah, what do you have to say about this?!"

Rebekah sighed and chewed on her lip. "Hope stopped talking to all of us and left to go to the Salvatore Boarding school on her own. I went to try and persuade her to talk to us or come back to New Orleans for a little while longer, but she screamed at me to leave her alone. So, I did." She looked regretful as those words left her mouth.

"You were suppose to watch out for her..." Hayley trialed off as tears gathered in her eyes. The last time she saw her daughter was in the in-between where Hope almost died but Klaus had revived her on time. Thinking about the afterlife, she frowned as she once again looked at their surroundings. "Where are we and why are we here, and without our daughter?"

"That would be my fault," a voice was heard over an intercom. "I have gathered you all here for one thing and one thing only."

"For what? For us to be killed by these heathens?!" Damon shouted as he gestured to the Mikaelson family as he held his girlfriends hand.

"No, Damon, they won't kill you. Trust me. I have spelled this place so that no one will be physically harmed during this time period," the voice informed.

"Then what the hell is going on and who the hell are you?!" Caroline exclaimed as she stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes.

Bonnie was frowning as she looked over at the Mikaelsons. Something wasn't right.

"For now, you may call me author. And if you would shut up for a second, you will know why I have gathered you all here," the voice told them, getting a little snippy. "Thank you. Now, I have brought you all here to watch the life of Hope Mikaelson."

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed in surprise.

"Why are we watching our daughters life?" Hayley asked, running a stressed hand through her hair as she avoided Elijah's eyes as they seemed to be trained on her since she had first spoken.

"Since you are dead and you are not able to be there for her, I figured this was the next best thing," the voice stated. "And trust me, you'll want to watch this."

"Is she happy? Is my baby girl happy?" Hayley asked, chewing on her bottom lip in worry. She only wants her daughter to have a happy and fulfilled life.

"Yes. But there are tons of hardships that she has to face. But, she is in safe hands," the voice informed and all the Mikaelson's breathed out in relief.

Elena watched them with soft eyes. Of course she was terrified to be in the presence of the Mikaelson's, especially after everything they have done for her. But, she knew this wasn't about her. They were only concerned about their daughter.

"Before we begin, Im going to bring in a few people that was... kinda still is a part of Hope Mikaelson's life," the author stated and with a snap, a group of people arrived. A blonde haired girl, a brunette at her side, two black boys — one with an Afro and the other with dreads, and a boy Klaus recognized that had once danced with his daughter.

"What the hell is going on?" The blonde one shouted and immediately her blue eyes landed on the boy Klaus recognized. "Is this your doing, Frodo?"

"No!" The one known as Landon exclaimed and ran a hand through his hair as memories hit him — and everyone else — at once. "Hope!"

"Hope Andrea Mikaelson!" The blonde shouted and spun around in a circle to look for the culprit, but didn't see her. But, her eyes widened once she saw a familiar blonde in the group that was near them. "Mom?"

The brunette's eyes widened as she turned around to stare at what her sister saw. "Mom!" She shouted in surprise, a smile gracing her lips. She then noticed her aunt and uncle beside her. "Aunt Elena!"

"Uncle Damon looks hotter than he usually does," the blonde commented and her eyes widened when some people chuckled at her and others stared at her in surprise. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah, Lizzie, you did," The black boy with dreadlocks said with an eye roll, used to Lizzie's antics at this point. "Where the hell are we and why does your dad look surprisingly good for his old age?"

"Dad?" Lizzie asked and to her surprise, her father stood behind her mother with furrowed brows. "Huh. Didn't even see him there." She took a step towards her parents, but Damon, Elena, and Bonnie stepped forward defensively.

"Who the hell are you?" Damon spat out, narrowing his eyes at the blonde who looks she could be Caroline's twin.

"Uncle Damon?" Lizzie asked and tilted her head as she looked beside him at Bonnie. "Aunt Bonnie why are you letting him be stupid again? I thought we agreed to keep him on a tight leash?"

Bonnie couldn't help but grin at the girls comment, but then frowned as she remembered what the girl said. "Aunt? I am no one's aunt."

"Lizzie...." Josie trialed off, gently grabbing her sisters hand. "I think we are somehow in the past."

"Past?" MG shouted in surprise before he shrunk back at the sight of everyone looking at him. "Why do you say that, Jo?"

"Because Uncle Stefan is standing right there..." she trailed off, pointing at Stefan who took a step back and pointed to himself in confusion.

"And what does my brother have to do with anything?" Damon asked, crossing his arms as he tilted his head threateningly.

"Because—"

"Wait!" Klaus suddenly exclaimed before he approached the twin sisters, scruntizing them. "Weren't you the two girls who helped get the Hollow out of my daughter?"

Lizzie and Josie's eyes widened at the sight of The Klaus Mikaelson standing before them before they both nodded and said, "yes," at the same time.

"Wow, that's creepy. What is this, The Shining?" Damon asked sarcastically.

"Shut up, idiot," Lizzie retorted without even looking at him, her eyes still on Klaus. "You're Hope's dad?" She rose a brow and glanced over at her mother. "The one who crushed on my mother?"

Klaus took a step back in surprise at her question. "What's it to you?"

"I tailored the dress you gave my mom to fit Hope," the blonde told him with a small smile gracing her lips. "She looked amazing, by the way."

Hayley smiled as she was told something about her daughter, even if it was just a small detail. "How do you know our daughter?"

Lizzie rose a brow as she looked over at Hope's mother. She recognized her from the pictures in Hope's dorm room. "Yeah. We once were enemies and now we're besties." She furrowed her brows and looked down at the floor. "Or... at least we were."

Landon took a step forward. "She jumped into Malivore." Everyone turned to look at him, and he shrunk back.

"You let her, muppet?!" Lizzie screeched — Elena and Bonnie were instantly reminded of Caroline who has the sad tone of voice when she's angry and surprised.

"Of course not!" He shouted back at her before sighing loudly. "She snapped my neck before obviously jumping in."

Lizzie crossed her arms and angrily glared at him.

"She snapped your neck?" Kol asked before he laughed. "She seems to have taken after you, Klausy."

"Shut up, Kol!" All the Mikaelson's shouted at him, making him frown deeply.

"I am proud of her for that, to be honest," Lizzie smiled as she has thought about snapping the boys neck many times because of how annoying is. Although she would never because she doesn't like hurting people, well, at least not physically hurting people.

"What is this Malivore you mentioned?" Elijah asked, taking a step forward, making eye contact with Landon who froze at being addressed by Hope's uncle.

"Uhhh..." he scratched the back of his neck. "He... it... uh... it's kind of complicated."

"All will be exclaimed soon!" The author shouted, making everyone flinch in surprise. "Just sit down and relax. No one in here will hurt anyone and know that you are not enemies anymore. Now, let's begin!"

The big screen in front of them had lit up and suddenly, there was a girl standing in a surrounding darkness. Her back was towards them, but the Mikaelson's instantly knew it had to be Hope.

Suddenly, a bright shining light appeared above the girls head, and began to suck her in. She She tried to grab onto anything, to throw magic at it, but nothing happened. And soon enough, she was engulfed by the light. And then nothing.

She landed harshly on the ground, a groan escaping her as she did so.

Sitting up quickly, Hope found herself in a dark forest, and she could barely see anything. She jumped up to her feet and muttered, "post tenebras spreo lucem," while moving one of her hands over the other. A ball of light conjured from her hand and she smiled in content before walking forward, gazing around her.

"She's so powerful," Bonnie mumbled to herself as she stared at the girl in wonder.

"She's absolutely gorgeous," Rebekah breathed it at the sight of her niece. Klaus and Hayley nodded in agreement at her words.

"Of course she is, she had their genes after all," Lizzie pointed out without thinking and her eyes widened in surprise as everyone chuckled at her no-filter.

Caroline smiled at the blonde, being reminded of herself before she was turned into a vampire.

Hope seemed to pause, looking like she was hypnotized by her surroundings before she moved her feet as quickly as she could and then stopped as she approached a road. She looked both ways, making sure no one was around before she closed her palm, the ball of light disappearing.

"Where am I?" She mumbled, shaking her head before taking one step on the road with her high-heeled black boots. And she continued to take more steps until she wondered up to a Sheriff Station. Taking in a deep breath, she approached the station and walked in. Her sapphire blue eyes looked around the waiting room, coming to a bigger realization that this definitely wasn't Mystic Falls.

"Hello, can I help you?" The lady at the front desk asked. She had darker skin, her hair pulled back into a bun, and a kind smile on her face.

Hope sent her a smile of her own before walking towards the desk. "Yes. Where am I exactly?"

The woman — Kenya from what Hope read from her name tag — furrowed her brows before sighing. "Are you friends with Stiles? Because he knows it's not funny when he tries to prank me."

"What the hell is a Stiles?" Caroline asked with furrowed brows.

Hope rose her brow at the name 'Stiles' before shaking her head. "No, ma'am, I don't know who that is. I am just trying to figure out where I am."

"She sounds so nice," mused Damon, "definitely not a Mikaelson trait."

"Shut up before I rip out your tongue," Kol threatened, but stopped when Freya set her hand on his shoulder to calm him.

Damon opened his mouth, about to retort when Elena shook her head at him with a small smile. He closed his mouth before kissing the side of her head with a fond smile.

Kenya looked the young girl up and down with pursed lips. "You're in Beacon Hills."

Hope pursed her lips and looked around once again, not recognizing the name. "And where is Beacon Hills located?"

"California," Kenya stated after a beat before looking the girl up and down. "Are you okay, miss? Are you lost?"

Hope quickly shook her head, wanting to fix her own problem. "No. I just — I'm a little drunk, that's all."

Kenya looked the girl up before shaking her head. "Mhmm. No, you're not." She walked around the desk and waved her finger at her, gesturing Hope to follow her. "Take a sit, young lady. I'm going to get the Sheriff for this."

"No!" She exclaimed before her eyes widened. "I'm — I'm fine, really. I just got a little confused. I'll just be going now." She turned around but she bumped into a body, and she backed away and looked up to face a man with kind blue eyes, a slightly wrinkled face, and a Sheriff's badge. "Oh, um, sorry!"

"Stop her, Sheriff," Kenya called out before Hope could make an escape. "This girl is lost and she claims to be drunk."

The Sheriff looked Hope up and down with a frown on his face. "You know lying to a cop is illegal, right?"

"But, I'm..." Hope trailed off, taking in a deep breath and sighing. "I just got turned around, that's all."

Sheriff Stilinski looked her up and down before gesturing for her to sit, and she did. He kneeled down in front of her, making sure she was looking him in the eyes. "What's your name?"

"Hope," she told him after a second of debating whether or not she should fake her name, but decided against it.

"Well, Hope, you and I both know that you are not drunk. And I do not see any other vehicle out there other than mine and Kenya's. So, how did you get here?" He watched her facial expressions and when she didn't speak up, he noticed how messy her clothes and hair were. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen, sir," she answered him quietly.

"Its been almost a year since our death for her," Klaus said, swallowing thickly. Hayley frowned and reached over to place her hand over his for comfort.

"She misses you both so much and tries to honor you," Josie spoke up for the first time in a while, giving Klaus and Hayley a small smile.

"And where are your parents?"

That was the dreaded question that she hated. She swallowed thickly and looked down at her boots as if they were the most interesting thing to ever happen.

"I feel so bad for her," Elena whispered, tears gathering in her eyes because she understands that look in the younger girls eyes. Pain. Remorse. Guilt. She's been there before.

"Oh..." He trialed off when he realized he got his answer from her not saying a word. "And where are you from?"

She looked up, meeting his eyes. "Mystic Falls."

"Kenya!" Sheriff Stilinski shouted, and when he got his deputy's attention, he ordered, "search up Mystic Falls." He then looked back to Hope who was chewing on her bottom lip and shifting her eyes around the room. "Are you in any kind of trouble?" Hope flashed back to Malivore, but shook her head. "I need you to tell me the truth now. I can't help you if you don't tell me everything."

"I'm not in any trouble, sir, I just—"

"Sir, there is no Mystic Falls anywhere!" Kenya shouted and Hope looked up in a panic, the words barley registering in her mind. "Is there anything else you need me to search up?"

Sheriff Stilinski pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at Hope. "What is your full name?"

Hope swallowed. "Hope Marshall," she mumbled out, still trying to process what Kenya had said. Mystic Falls was real, she was just there. Well, that was before she jumped in Malivore. Her eyes widened and wondered if Malivore was able to send her somewhere else — maybe like a multiverse thing from Marvel.

"Smart girl," Rebekah complimented. "She knows to not use her full name just in case enemies are nearby."

Klaus and Hayley looked proud at that.

"Search up a 'Hope Marshall'," Sheriff Stilinski shouted to Kenya and didn't say or ask anything else as he watched Hope.

"There is no Hope Marshall, sir," Kenya stated after a few moments and Hope let out a shaky breath, wanting to break down and cry.

"Ma'am, I need you to tell me the truth, is something going on?" The Sheriff asked and that's when Hope broke down.

"I don't know," she mumbled, a tear skidding down her cheek, and she squinted her nose, and pursed her lips, trying to stop crying, and not seem weak. "I don't know why I'm here or what I'm suppose to do now."

Caroline frowned. "Poor girl. Her world has been turned upside down."

"I wish we could be there for her," MG states with a frown. "The Supersquad would have her back for this obvious difficult time."

The other members of 'the super quad' nodded in agreement while everyone else stared at them in confusion.

The Sheriff sighed as he stood up, feeling pity for the girl. She was only sixteen and seems to be in some sort of trouble, has no parents, and just seems lost in all the senses. He turned to Kenya and gestured to the phone. "Can you get Melissa on the phone for me? I have a favor to ask of her."

Kenya nodded and picked up the phone, dialing Melissa McCall.

"Who is this Melissa person?" Rebekah asked, pursing her lips. She hopes whoever this person is, she will treat Hope with respect.

Hayley and Klaus glance to one another, hoping they whoever this 'Melissa McCall' person is, treats and loves their daughter like she is their own.

"I guess we're about to find out," Stefan commented, his eyes never leaving the screen as it skipped toward the next scene.

Hope looked up from her place on the bench on the Sheriff Station, and she watched as a Latina woman walked into the building. The woman's brown eyes met her blue ones and she tried to offer the woman a smile, but it was more of a grimace.

"Hello," the woman said softly as she sat beside Hope, making the sixteen year old look up at her with teary eyes. "You must be Hope." The auburn haired girl nodded and the woman sighed. "I'm Melissa." When Hope didn't say anything, she explained, "Noah has informed me about you and he thinks that you need someone to be there for you."

Hope swallowed thickly as she searched Melissa's eyes. "What's going to happen with me?"

Melissa frowned at the young girl who looked like she needed some guidance in her life. "Well... since Noah doesn't have any room at his place and I have a guest room that hasn't been used in years, I am going to take you in."

"What?" Hope frowned as she looked away from the woman. Her mind was on overdrive, she was trying to figure out what the hell happened to make her end up in this place. "You're going to adopt me?"

Melissa took in a deep breath. "Not exactly. I'm going to be in charge of you and Noah is printing some paperwork out so that the school will understand the situation."

"School?" The sixteen year old mumbled, sucking in a breath.

Melissa nodded and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You're sixteen. You have to go to school or the law will be involved. You'll be starting tomorrow."

"This is..." Hope shook her head and leaned forward, laying her elbows on her knees as she took in deep breaths. She didn't want to seem weak and pathetic in front of these people. "This is moving too fast. I don't even know—" Her eyes widened as she felt a panic attack coming, and she closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply.

"Hey, hey, just take in deep breaths," Melissa ordered calmly as she rubbed her back.

"Is she alright?!" Noah asked with wide eyes as he was walking out of his office.

"They already have that parental look and feel to them with Hope." Freya smiled, reaching over to squeeze Hayley's hand. "I think she's in a safe place."

"I got it handled, Noah," Melissa stated as she whispered calm words to Hope who took in a few deep breaths and let them out.

Hope nodded, and sat back, looking ahead of her, not making eye contact with anyone. "Thank you," she whispered to Melissa, trying to not break down.

"You're welcome, sweetie." She ran her fingers through the girl's hair. "It's going to be alright. I promise. And you don't have to go to school tomorrow if you think it's too much."

Hope pulled back at those words, wiping her eyes quickly. She decided to result to her Mikaelson traits, and shook her head. "No. No, I'll be fine."

Melissa eyed her carefully, noticing how tired the girl was. "Are you sure? You don't have to—"

Hope took in a shaky breath and nodded sternly. She didn't want to seem like a kid who couldn't take care of herself. "I'll be fine."

"Here is the paperwork," Noah stated as he held out a file to Melissa who took it, and looked through it. "I have a spare just in case you lose that one, and then I have one that I'll be sending to the school the first thing in the morning."

Hope looked between them and peaked over Melissa's shoulder to take a gander at the file. "I'm going to play as your niece?" She asked, sniffling slightly as she looked up at the woman.

Melissa smiled at the girl and closed the file, and shoved it on her bag. "Distant, of course." She lowly chuckled. "We should go to a store real quick to buy you some clothes to wear tomorrow."

Hope's eyes widened as she remembered that she'll be going to a public school for the very first time. "I don't — you don't have to. I can just wear this." They all three looked down at her clothes which had dirt all over it due to her fall out of Malivore.

Rebekah, Caroline, and Lizzie grimaced at the outfit. "No, you will not," they trio chorused together before staring at one another in shock.

"Nonsense," Melissa said with a small smile.

"Here." Noah stepped forward, handing Melissa forty bucks. "I know it's not much, but I'm the one who asked for your help."

"No, Noah, it's fine," Melissa declined and tried to hand the money back, but the blue eyed man glared at her. "Okay. But, I'm paying you back."

Hope looked between them, and suddenly, a determined look spread across her face.

"That look is never good," Alaric comments as he looked toward Elena who usually gets the same look in her eyes when she is determined to do something.

Hope sat on her new bedroom floor, and picked up a small knife and nicked her finger and allowed the blood to drop on the map, closing her eyes. "Mur vara en gartus sanguineus." She opened her eyes and watched her blood which should've been trying to find any Mikaelson's that should be on Earth. But, when the blood just stayed still instead of moving and catching fire when it finds it targets, Hope chocked back a sob as she realized what it meant.

Taking a deep breath and she closed her eyes, and used a different locator spell trying to find if Malivore had found himself in this universe along with her. "Ahsorum, dolusantum, infidictus." But, when the blood did the same thing, she growled and stood up abruptly.

"There is no way!" She whisper-shouted to herself and ran her dainty hands through her hair. "There is no way that I am in a different universe. There is just no way!" She turned abruptly and looked at herself in the mirror that hung on her bathroom's door. "What went wrong?"

Reaching up, she played with her necklace that Rebekah had given her, and closed her eyes. "I miss you guys so much."

Tears pooled in all the Mikaelson's eyes as they realized that she still hasn't gotten through their deaths.

Sighing, she turned around and swiped the map off of the floor and muttered a spell so that the blood would disappear from the map. "Evanesco." She smiled, at least happy that her magic skills is still top notch before she folded the map and hid it in her closet.

She pulled her hair up into a messy bun and jumped into the bed which she will be sleeping in until otherwise, and closed her eyes, knowing that when she wakes up, she'll be going to school.