my last few brain cells failed to make a name for this chapter so um... yeah :D

Octavia looked between me and Mark, clearly recognizing him moreso than me. She was quick to raise a hand at us, sending a heaving object in our direction. I panicked, not knowing what to do, but Mark was quick on his thinking, using his own magic to send it into a wall. He then bound her by the hands and feet with some rope she had on a table nearby, then forced her into a chair.

She still tried to escape. This time, it was me that furthered her restraints. Accidentally, of course. Somehow, when I reached out, the binds on her wrists and ankles had frozen solid. It looked slightly painful, but that pain alone convinced the woman that her efforts were futile.

Mark looked at me with approval. "Nice! You're getting better with your magic."

"Yeah, right. I still have no idea how to control it," I sighed, shaking my head. We turned our attention back to Octavia.

She breathed heavily, still looking between us. "I told her I'm done with her. I meant it, I'm not helping anyone do anything again."

"We're not here on Allison's behalf, Octavia."

She squinted her eyes at Mark and gave him a full look over. I leaned against the nearest wall, crossing my arms. "You... you sound different," she breathed. "Like your emotions are back. Are they—?"

"They are. And I'm sorry for any pain I caused..." I gave him a look. "Um... I- she's not why we're here. My sister tells me you were involved with the attacks in the bayou."

Octavia was taken aback. She glanced at me and it looked as if she was piecing something together. "Sister? I thought—"

"What? That I died?" I shrugged lazily. "I did. Just not back then." She nodded slowly and averted all eye contact with me. She's guilty. At least she knows what she did was wrong. "I... we need answers. You were the second witch the vampires used to get passed the wards our dad put up. Our dad... who you apparently betrayed. Meaning you knew him in a personal level."

She nodded. I tilted my head, expectantly. "We want to find them. And," I retrieved her booklet from my back pocket, "it looks like you know some things. 'Bat Davidson'? Marcel crushed his heart for what went down. He was the leader of the vampires in the attacks."

"No. No, you're wrong," she shook her head. "No, he was the decoy. He gave his life in place of the real leader. So- so they could continue to look for whatever it was they wanted to find for Allison."

"Wait, so she's really responsible for what happened?" Mark scoffed. "Of course. How else would she know we had the potential to become tribrids?"

"There's still a lot that makes no sense—"

"I know what you want to know. I'll tell you, but for goodness's sake," she raised her hands to showcase the ice-covered ropes. "This hurts, a lot. I'm gonna get frostbite."

I pursed my lips as I thought about it for a second. Despite the fact that this witch aided in my family's demise, I couldn't help but feel like I could trust her on some level. Because— well, let's be real, she could easily have gotten a psychic hold on us, or incinerated our brain cells with her magic.

I tried concentrating hard enough to release my affect on the ropes. After a moment, the ice completely melted away. When I moved to untie the rope, she barked at me to not touch it.

"It's laced. Vervain and wolfsbane. You never know who, or what, you're gonna have to tie down," she laughed awkwardly. Once she removed the restraints, she rubbed her wrists with a groan. "Can I get you anything? I don't have blood or anything like that, but..."

"Sentiment's nice but we're good," Mark responded. "Just tell us what we want to know."

Octavia moved to the kitchen, grabbing a small glass cup and a bottle of alcohol. She poured some for herself then took a sip. "Where do you want to start?"

"The beginning; how you knew Dad."

Nodding at me, she twirled the brown liquid around in the cup. "Blake found me in a tough place. I was younger than you are now, pregnant, 'bout ready to burst when he saw me on the streets. I'd get into that, but..." She shook her head and took another sip of her drink. "Anyway, your father accepted me into his coven. Only consisted of the people he trusted with the the secret of his kids' potential. They made me feel welcome after having been kicked out of my own home for getting knocked up.

Your mother, Lori, she... she delivered my little boy and promised that she'd help me figure out the whole mothering thing. She said she was still new to it herself, so we were in it together."

"When was that?" Mark asked.

"I think you guys were about two. I was fifteen with a newborn kid, not knowing a damn thing about anything..." Octavia sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead. "Blake taught me magic. Some of it were basic spells from his grimoire that were either passed down through generations or created by him. Him teaching me things and her helping me with my son... that went on for years. Up until..."

I nodded to let her know I was following.

"I was in the apartment that a good friend let me use while he was out of the country. I just got out the shower, had myself a nice meal. When I went to check on Amir—my son—there was this woman and this guy. She had my son in her arms, coaxing him back to sleep, acting all gentle. But she told me I had a choice to make. Either I helped them take down the wards of the bayou, or she bled him dry."

I shook my head, "But why you? You were new to the craft, right? Why would they think you knew how to take them down?"

"Because I did. I was there when he put them up the improved ones after the first attack. I knew the exact spell he used, and how to reverse it. They must have had someone watching us..." Octavia leaned forward and made eye contact with me. "I didn't have a choice. If I didn't help them that night, Amir wouldn't've lived passed his third birthday."

I remember her mentioning her son that night. How she said she was sorry; that it was Mom and Dad, or her son, and any mother of any age would have chosen their own child.

"They told me they wouldn't hurt your parents. Part of me knew they were lying, but I hoped, on some level, they'd honor that."

"They murdered two little kids," Mark mumbled. "How can you think there's any honor left in them after that?"

Octavia shrugged helplessly, "Blind faith." She sat the alcohol aside. "After that, they took me to the rendezvous point. My son was there, alive and unharmed, and I prayed that was it; that I wouldn't have to cause any more damage. And I didn't, for a while. I tried to leave New Orleans and get Amir someplace safe. Maybe try to find my grandparents and keep him there.

But not long after, Allison and her minions found me, took my boy away from me again, and made me consume all this black magic to bring you back to life."

"After the burial," I thought aloud. Octavia nodded to confirm it. She got up and moved to a bulletin board I noticed earlier, but didn't care enough to linger around. She pulled down some kind of paper that turned out to be a map of the US. All the points were kept to the east.

There were various points close to Octavia's own safe houses that were marked. "My time with him has been kind of on and off. Not long after bringing Mark back, the vampires were deemed useless in providing Allison with what she wanted. She started to consume them, but a couple dozen of them managed to escape. They've been on the run from her and Marcel for years.

Those same vampires kept taking Amir, using him as leverage against me so I'd help them stay cloaked from any attempts made to find them. I managed to get out of Allison's grip too, and I've been following the vampires wherever they went for the past five years or so."

Realization dawned on me as I looked over the map. "You're trying to get him back."

"I've been hunting them," she said, nodding. "I've been so close so many times. But somehow they've protected themselves against my magic. Like they've got witches of their own but their magic, it's— it's different. It almost reminds of—"

"Travelers."

"Yes," she nodded slowly.

I looked between the two, recalling everything I knew about them. "Weren't they all killed off?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded. "But their way of magic is still known to many. It's possible some group of witches out there practice their ways today. It makes sense that the witches these vampires have are using traveler magic if Octavia's isn't very effective against it."

"Good thing we won't need much magic to destroy those assholes," I smirked, knowing if I could get close enough to the vampires, I could bite them. They'd die, slowly and painfully. Just as they deserved. "Have you pinpointed their location?"

"I just left their hideout. Abandoned warehouse 6 blocks south. Amir's there."

"Let's make a deal then. You help us figure out what Allison wanted from our village and kill the vampires, we help you get your son back and keep him safe."

Octavia turned to me, confusion all over her face. "Why would you be willing to help me? After what I've done to your parents?"

I shrugged, sighing because I can't really blame her for trying to protect her son. "We all have someone we'll go through great lengths to protect," I said, the thought of a particular blue-eyed brunette coming to mind. "I can't say I wouldn't do the same for the people I love the most."

Octavia nodded. "I'll do my best to make amends for my mistakes. I promise."

I looked around for a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote down the address of the hotel Mark and I scouted while waiting for Octavia. I handed her the address. "That's where we'll be staying. Come by tomorrow at noon. We can get started then."

We came to an agreement and my brother and I left. I felt pretty confident in the progress we've made so far, even though it's just one person we found. But, I mean... she's the one person we needed to kickstart this mission, so... Kudos to us, right?

It didn't take much time for us to get to the hotel. I was exhausted, and I think Mark was too, judging by how quickly he grabbed his medium-sized bag of clothes. Whenever we stopped somewhere and saw a clothes shop, we were sure to get him a few outfits. I'm almost convinced he's a teenaged girl on the inside by how much he enjoyed shopping. Then again, I suppose he hasn't had that luxury for years.

Once we grabbed out clothes, and I grabbed Gwenivere, and went inside to see the hotel clerk about the keys to our room. Not too long after, we were well on our way to hot showers and sleep.

Mark called dibs on showering first the moment we entered the room. I shook my head as he rushed into the bathroom, then threw my bag on the bed furthest from the door. I treated Gwenivere with more respect than that, of course, then decided to head back outside for some privacy.

I retrieved my phone from my pocket and scrolled through it until I reached Hope's name in the contacts list. My thumb hovered over the call button as I was unsure if I really should call her. On one hand, I don't even know what I'm supposed to say. On the other hand, however, I did promise to call at some point. I suppose now's better than later when I'm scouting vampires.

Before I could back out, I pressed the button and held the phone to my ear. It rang longer than I expected it too, and I was about ready to give up on waiting for Hope to answer. My patience was rewarded soon enough.

'I didn't think you'd actually call,' she said.

I hummed lightly. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't answer."

'Yeah, I'm sorry. I had paint everywhere...' I hummed again, shoving my free hand in my pocket and kicking some trash around. 'How are things going for you guys?'

I sighed. "We found the witch that helped in the second wave of the massacre. Who turned out to be the same witch that resurrected my brother and forced compulsion on him to have him shut his emotions off."

'Oh? That's... wow. I— are you okay?'

"Yeah. I mean, she agreed to help us get to the vampires." I heard a faint exhale on Hope's end. "What?"

'I just, I don't think I could ever have the strength to forgive someone for aiding in my family's death.'

"I'm not mad at her for it, but that doesn't mean I forgive her. Maybe not yet. She just... got mixed up in some bad things that caused innocent people to die. It's not her fault."

I faintly remembered the feeling of her lips on my face, and wound up having my hand in the same spot again. At least this time I realized what I was doing. I have to get better at that to avoid Mark's ridiculous theories.

I shook myself out my head and cleared my throat. "How about you? Anything interesting happening over there?"

'Ah... it's complicated...'

"Try me."

Hope sighed, then went silent for a hot second. When she spoke, I couldn't help but notice the dejection in her voice. "Its Landon."

I held the phone away from my face as I groaned and rolled my eyes. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised something happened with that demon kid, and under normal circumstances I wouldn't care. But I put the phone back to my ear and listened. For Hope's sake.

'Something happened. He kind of died a few days ago as a phoenix and now he's human. And I guess that'd have been fine if Malivore hadn't made an appearance and taken over his body. We had to send him to a prison world, which in turn sent Landon as well, and I had to help everyone remember who he is so we can all find a way to save him, but... nothing has worked so far. Dr. Saltzman even shut down the school and sent everyone so we can focus our efforts to get him back but Mel... I'm worried.'

I stopped kicking trash around. In fact, I think my whole body stopped functioning for a second. I mean, what the hell?

'I told you it's complicated,' Hope chuckled. 'I'm sorry to dump this on you. I know you have a lot to deal with without me telling you all this...'

I pinched the bridge of my nose, "It's fine. It's okay, Princess."

'So we're back to that stupid name, huh?'

"There's none other I'd rather call you, honestly. And I wish I could be there with you. Don't get me wrong, you know I don't particularly like the guy, but... he means something to you. I wish I was there for you."

'Oh, Lori,' she breathed, casually calling me by that name, again. 'I know. And I wish the same about you.'

I sighed, looking up at the gibbus moon. "Listen, I have to go. We're scouting the vampires tomorrow, so we need to rest as much as possible. You should do the same. If you expect to get your demonic man child back, you need to have a clear head."

Hope laughed, probably shaking her head at my name calling. 'You're right. I'll clean up this paint, shower and sleep. Promise.'

I nodded to myself and started to hang up. But Hope's voice brought my attention back to her. I put the phone back to my ear, and waited for her to say what she needed to say.

'One last thing; try to come home soon. The room feels empty without you and I miss you.'

I smiled to myself, and told her I'd try my best to do just that, then ended the call and went back to the room to get some sleep.