1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

"i need to go", hope smiled.

"oh, why? you look like you are enjoying yourself." landon was always delighted when hope showed him her soft side that she tried so hard to hide away from anyone else.

"while that is true, i am meeting my grandparents today." she turned around as if that was a completely normal thing.

landon didn't think so.

"what? but, aren't your grandparents all dead? and didn't half of them try to kill you?"

"that's right. my mom never met her biological parents, the labonairs and they died in a werewolf war situation shortly after her birth. and my dad's mom and his stepfather also died many times, mostly by getting killed by dad. and i guess his biological dad is also double-dead. but my mom was adopted as a baby. that's where the marshall comes from. the marshalls were normal people who didn't know anything about the whole situation and kicked mom out when she triggered her curse and they didn't know what was going on. apparently, they regret that now."

"a little late, don't you think?"

"maybe. but they just found out their child is dead. and apparently, the private investigator they hired also found out that she had a kid. so they contacted me."

landon looked worried.

"you didn't tell me about that. do they know what you are?"

"no. which is why i'm meeting them off campus."

"right. a school with spell classes and students with fangs would probably be a shock."

"mhmm."

he sensed her anxiety over the meeting.

"do you me to come along?"

"no, thank you. i think this is something i should be doing on my own."

this smile was more familiar. she used it frequently to show everyone that she was fine.

"i'll see you after!"

already at the door, she turned her head again.

"they can't be worse than monsters, right?"

although this last smile seemed more genuine, landon wasn't entirely convinced.

hope was only about five minutes from the mystic grill. unfortunately, without the permanent source of calm and positivity that landon was to her, her thoughts had started to spiral. her mom had not spoken of the marshalls often. to her, they had been dead ever since they left her alone with her struggles. but she had never changed her name back to andrea labonair either. not that her dad had ever done, and he definitely hated his father. but there were also rare moments when she had been little and, as curious as she was, asked her mom how she had learned writing, if she had travelled as much when she was her age and if there were any pictures of her as a little girl. she had already learned that photographs didn't exist when her dad and her aunts and uncles were kids, but she also knew that mom was younger. hayley had had a sadness in her eyes when she talked about her childhood. from her letter, hope knew that she appreciated the normal childhood she had gotten, outside of anything supernatural or any real danger. the marshalls told her they would

ing pictures of their daughter. hope, in turn, decided to

ing some of her mother. she had quite a few that her aunt freya had kept.

"hope?"

she stopped in her tracks, realising that she had reached the front door.

the question, however, came from an elderly woman sitting at a table outside. no, not elderly. she looked to be about sixty years old, just like the man sitting next to her.

for some reason, this felt strange to hope. they were almost too young and too old at the same time. she usually wasn't that aware of the age difference between her parents.

"do you want to take a seat?"

this time, the man spoke. they had this shimmer of hope in their eyes.

she caught herself.

"yes. nice to meet you."

she grabbed a chair from another table and sat down next to them.

it was clear that noone was too sure if what to do.

"how did-" "what is-"

the nervous laughter actually took some of the tension out of the situation.

"since we asked you to come, would it be okay if we started?"

hope nodded her "go ahead" to the lady.

"i'm carrie and this is my husband, ray. ray?"

she nudged him in the shoulder. although he became aware of the situation, he didn't

eak his state for another moment.

"i'm sorry, yeah, i'm ray. or grandpa."

another nudge from his wife informed him of his mistake.

"no, obviously not. you have never met us. i mean… you just look so much like her."

"i know."

although hope smiled, carrie could see the sadness in her eyes. the girl had been through too much for her age.

"anyway, we realised that we made a mistake about a year ago. before that… we didn't really want to think about what happened at all. we were not her biological parents, but we raised her. we should have been there for her. did she ever tell you what happened?"

"i don't know, ehm… i've

ought pictures?"

while this didn't go exactly to plan, they accepted her change of topic and smiled approvingly.

"we'd love to see them."

"she didn't change at all."

they were looking at a snapshot hope had taken of her mother when she first got a phone at age ten.

"well, her hair is different."

"really, what kind of hair did she have as a teenager?"

"wait, i think i've got a picture from homecoming. here."

"wow. that's a look. the 2000s look like a fun time. she's gorgeous in that dress."

"she really is. she met up with her best friend alice hours before the ball started to do her makeup and styling."