CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
FIND ANOTHER WAY

     "NO!" HOPE'S HAND SHOT OUT, and the stake came flying from Lilianna's hand and into Hope's. She had reacted so quickly that it made both of them take a moment of surprise before meeting each other's eyes once again. And that's when Hope saw it. She saw the fear dancing in Lilianna's eyes as she stared desperately at Hope. Lilianna shook her head, allowing the tears to fall down her cheeks as she held her hand out for the Stake.

     "Please." She whispered, her voice cracking. "Please. I can't do this. I can't be one of you. I can't be part of this world."

     "Why not?" Hope asked, and it sounded selfish almost. Asking a teenager that had never wanted this life to stay alive because of some weird attachment Hope had towards her. She took a careful step forwards, hoping the new vampire wouldn't lash out and try to rip her throat open. Hope looked at her for a moment before asking, "What's your name?"

     Lilianna hesitated before answering, "Lilianna."

    Lilianna, that's a pretty name, Hope thought. "What are you so afraid of, Lilianna?" Maybe it was because she was afraid of them, maybe that's what it was. Hope continued, "We aren't here to hurt you."

     A scoff fell from Lilianna's lips as she narrowed her eyes at Hope. The hunter in her took over. "I'm not afraid of you―︎never was." And then, she thought of her brother, of her mother. And what they would do when they found out what had become of her. She bit the inside of her cheek, her heart shattering in her chest. Her relationship with her brother was never going to be the same. "I'm afraid of what my family is going to do once they find out I broke the family code and became one of you. So, please, Hope Mikaelson, let me do this. I can't―︎I can't look at my brother and see the pain in his eyes once he found out what happened to me."

     "Your family code is to kill yourself before you can be turned?" Hope looked at her with a frown. She didn't like their family code at all. It seemed harsh. To be forced to kill yourself once you were turned. Hope placed the stake down on the bed, knowing that she didn't have the right to take that choice from Lilianna. But she couldn't help but try to convince her to stay alive, just for a day or two, to see how not all of the supernatural creatures were the same. "You said I was your mission. What did you mean by that?"

Lilianna looked at Hope, glancing towards the stake, and back towards Hope once more. She clenched her jaw for a few moments before finally she reached up, grabbing the collar of her shirt and pulling it down to show the birthmark placed on the young girl's collar bone. The perfect arrow shape set there, intriguing Hope and making her come closer to get a better look. Lilianna watched her for a few moments, watching her move closer and closer. Hope almost reached up to touch the mark but stopped herself from doing so and instead moved her eyes away from the birthmark in order to look up and meet Lilianna's eyes.

     "When I was born, this birthmark was imprinted on my skin. And my future was already set. Written in the books, just patiently waiting to be played out." She let go of the collar of her shirt. "I was to become the greatest hunter in the thousands of hunters. I was to be the best. And I was was. As soon as I could walk, I was being trained. I was studying the supernatural as soon as I could learn to read. And once I was seven I was going on missions with my parents to kill the beasts that they claimed to be so dangerous. This birthmark passed down through my family for generations, one of my great great great grandparents had it all those years ago as well. They said that we weren't to die but by that of old age. But clearly, they were wrong."

     Lilianna walked away from Hope, making her way over towards the bed with Hope's eyes following her. "There are always faults that lie within a legacy. My ancestors being that she would fall in love with the one thing she hunted. And she did. After her own human husband had died, and her daughter and son she had given life to grew up, she continued alone, and stumbled upon the man that would be her doom. A werewolf. Whom of which had been shunned and kicked out by his own pack. They shared their stories, and fell in love, and when his pack came back to kill him, she had tried to protect him. And she got bit. And she got turned. And when her children found out, they came to kill her themselves.

     "That was her story. The one my mother told me in order to warn me. To tell me not to make the same mistakes. But, it seems I've already started to fail." Lilianna turned her head to look at Hope. "You were supposed to be my mission. The tribrid Mikaelson that I was supposed to kill in order to seal my official fate, getting rid of that second path that had always been there. But look at me now. I'm a vampire! And when my family doesn't hear from me, they're going to know, and they're going to come looking, and then I'm going to be dead either way. And my mother will seek her revenge. And all of these people here will be killed because that woman is a ruthless monster, and she won't listen to my brother and instead will twist his mind until he agrees that I should be avenged."

     Tears fell down her cheeks as her voice lowered to a soft whisper that Hope almost couldn't hear. "If I stay here, all of these people, all of these children that I know are here, are going to die. And I may be a hunter. But I'm not heartless. And that's something that my mother cannot relate with. So, you have a choice here, Mikaelson. Either let me stake myself in the heart, or let me live and all of those innocent kids be killed."

     Hope's heart broke for the brunette. She'd only known Lilianna for not even a day, and the connection that was there pulled at her. It yelled for her to come closer to Lilianna, to keep her safe. They were two people that were doomed to a destiny that they didn't want. And that's why Hope shook her head and came closer, reaching out and grabbing Lilianna's hand. "There has to be another way. We will find another way. No matter what it takes. I promise."