"A configuration of her own imagination..."

The reason behind Hope's mid-morning jog was not to train for an upcoming marathon. It wasn't to improve some time she'd set back in High School. And it wasn't to gain the attention of attractive bachelors in the neighborhood. No, instead she jogged around like a suburban mom with a minivan to appear normal. That's right, normal.

Since the fiasco of the other night, she realized having the police parked in your front yard only a day after moving in wasn't exactly a positive impression on the neighbors. So, here she was, waving at random people as she followed the sidewalk path up and down the streets. She felt positively ridiculous.

Hope adjusted her Bose earbuds and turned the volume up to the random Dubstep song she had playing, picking up the pace. If she was going to do this, she at least wanted to break a sweat. Her usual workouts in New Orleans consisted of running through the bayou, leaping over murky waters and climbing up tall Cyprus trees. The terrain here hadn't quite met her satisfaction.

Her plans for the day? Well, to start, she'd like to smooth things over with Stiles. However, she had a feeling their relationship wouldn't be quite the same as before. Although they'd hardly known each other, she felt a connection with him. He was someone she could talk with, trust even, and that wasn't something that happened very often in the life that she governed.

Hope quickly discarded the negative thoughts from her head and slowed to a walk, seeing her house in the near distance. She hadn't come here to make friends, rendering it pointless to think any further about the situation. So, she pushed all emotions behind her. At least for now, she had no need for them.

While taking a small swig from her sloshing water bottle she stepped inside the air-conditioned foyer. It was like taking a dive into a pool of cool water. Refreshing, but forced an involuntary shudder. A long shower would be perfect, she thought as she rubbed the back of her neck and closed her eyes.

"Remember Hope, it's a new day." Puffing out a soft sigh, she swiftly climbed the stairs and made a quick job of freshening up. After a warm shower and a fresh change of clothes, she went back down to make herself a quick cup of coffee.

She sat down on a cushioned bench under the kitchens half-curved bay window, then shoved her feet under a pillow and wiggled her toes against the fabric. There was this undeniable feeling that today would hold a few hiccups while searching for- well, she wasn't entirely certain what she was looking for. If she was looking for anything at all. She didn't know where she'd even begin. As misguided as her decisions have been so far, she still had a deep instinct that this was where she needed to be.

Her attention was suddenly guided away from her rolling train of thought as something unusual caught her line of sight. She'd been staring out the window, not really seeing when a dark figure came into her focus. Her immediate impression told her Dick was out in her backyard, watching her like the creeper he was, but just as quickly as the assumption came it was replaced with something far more bizarre. Whatever it was, it was difficult to make out, but she was almost certain the curious entity was a man. A man whose face was shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to identify who he was. At least, she thought the strange figure was a he. Hope couldn't sense the usual danger that usually made her skin crawl, but there was this strange taste of electricity in the air.

Adjusting her position, Hope started to straighten up from her place on the cushion, sitting on her knees with a hand rested against the fogging glass. There was an undeniable pull like someone had tied a rope around her waist and was physically trying to pull her outside and into the shadowy tree line. Instincts, perhaps. Or was it mere curiosity to know who might want to watch her drink a boring mug of bitter coffee?

She narrowed her eyes then as she finally came to the realization this dark apparition was not a configuration of her own imagination. No, it was very much real, and she would find out who or what this thing was. She got up from her seat and made a speedy dash for the glass glazed door in the dining room that would lead her to the back porch. Hope was almost certain if she were watching this happen on the big screen she'd be throwing popcorn at herself in retaliation for being so undeniably stupid. Still, she stepped out onto the porch, eyes searching the tree line for the figure. To her extreme disappointment, the mysterious creature had vanished.

Scowling, Hope ventured out into the damp yard, feet digging into the earth as she continued to the tree line. She shoved aside a few brambles of vegetation and went on into the graying thicket. "Hello?" she called, voice strong "I don't take kindly to unwanted visitors," she said as she stood in the same spot where it stood. Nothing. Not even footprints to signal someone had been there. Then again, the dirt was so tightly compacted in this area it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find any evidence of prints left behind. Hope scanned the forest in search of a glimpse of movement. The most peculiar thing of all was that she couldn't hear anything aside from the whistle of the wind. No footsteps, no breathing, no scurrying of tiny animals. Interesting, she thought to herself.

Hope returned to the house with a dissatisfied expression. Whatever had been there, and she was sure she hadn't imagined it, was long gone by now and she had no suspicions as to what it might be. Obviously, it wasn't Stiles, he was too clumsy and awkward to make such a quick and noiseless getaway. Maybe it was Stiles' friend, Scott? The one she'd met the other night. It was a theory anyway.

She quickly washed the mud from her feet and slipped on a pair of socks, then shoes. Now it was time to do a little exploring of her own and maybe she'd find something that would lead her closer to what brought her to Beacon Hills in the first place. It was a stretch, but she had to try.

After thoroughly washing her mug, she grabbed her keys off the hook by the garage door and made her way to the car. Her thoughts were still in a flutter of disarray as she backed out onto the street. It was only 9 o'clock and the neighborhood was still gaining its' warmth from the rising sun. Hope turned on the radio, checked her gas gauge, and then freely drove through town letting her senses expand. She opened herself to her surroundings, letting herself become vulnerable to the natural call of her wolf instincts.

Recalling back to her evenings in the bayou amongst the pack she was born into, the Crescent Moon pack, she was reminded of one evening sitting around the scorching fire that licked the starry canvas above. Mary - who held no relation to Hope, but was close all the same – spent the evening telling stories of days past that conjured fantastic images that Hope held onto through the years. There was one thing that Mary had said that was particularly fixed in her memory. "Closing yourself off from the world and denying natural instinct makes for a blind wolf." Hope had easily convinced herself that every wolf was blind at some point in their life, metaphorically speaking, of course.

Hope was pulled back from her reverie and it suddenly came to her attention that a familiar pale blue Jeep seemed to be following where she went. Arching a groomed eyebrow, she studied the rearview mirror, recognizing Stiles at the steering wheel and Scott in the passenger seat. It was obvious they were following her, their intent probably to find anything else they might be able to hold against her as hard evidence. "Oh, boys. You don't learn easily do you?" she muttered under her breath as she watched the Jeep skit around a corner, attempting to remain unseen.

Despite not being need of any fuel, Hope pulled into a gas station and stepped out of the car. She topped off the tank and slipped back in, taking her phone out from the back of her pocket and pretended to focus on the blank screen. She closed her eyes, picturing vividly what she wanted to happen. She imagined Stiles and Scott, riding in the Jeep, rolling round and round the same neighborhood in search of her car. She imagined them turning corner after corner only to find they were going in a constant, unbreakable loop with no escape. Although it would appear to them every turn leads to a dead end, the reality was they'd drive past the exit over and over and over. They would see only what she wanted them to see. An inescapable maze of eerily quiet streets and carbon copy houses. She then spoke the spell that made her idea a reality.

"Averte oculos tuos a quo exitus. Hunc exitus ab auribos" she finished, snapping her eyes open and smirked slyly. Did she regret reciting a spell that would make those boys waste their entire day circling a neighborhood while questioning their sanity? No, not in the least. Hope pulled out of the gas station feeling at ease as she started to drive down the road, rolling her window down to let the breeze in.

It happened so suddenly. She was hit with such a strong wave of fierce yearning she hadn't been prepared for. Her heart pounded out of control, like the flight of a hummingbird's wings. The sensation nearly ran her car off the road, but before she could cause any real damage she was able to steady herself. When composed, she forced herself to pause and comprehend her situation. Whatever this force of nature was, it called to her, and she was eager to follow.

Left and right. Right and left. It seemed to take ages to finally feel herself going in the right direction. Finally, fed up with the number of U-Turns she had to make, she pulled up behind a set of abandoned apartment buildings. Unfortunately, as she was walking out of the lot she spotted a bold red sign that read NO PARKING ZONE. Hope pursed her lips into a thin line and then glanced around before grabbing hold of the sign and yanked it off the chain link fence. "Oh, would you look at that. It fell off" she then tossed it into a nearby waste bin. Now, it was time to follow her instincts without restriction.

The journey that started at the abandoned lot soon turned into a trek through the forest. And as she traipsed through the leafy debris she suddenly was very grateful she'd decided to wear her leather fit combat boots, which made it a much easier climb up the occasionally steep slopes.

The closer she got, the more her mind began to wonder. What exactly waited for her at the end of this figurative yellow brick road? There was always a possibility that all of this was some elaborate setup created by an enemy of the Mikaelson's. Now was the time to prepare for what was to come. A string of spells, curses, and hexes came to mind, all of which would remain in the nightmares of any human.

With each step forward she took, she could feel herself closing the gap between herself and her objective. She knew the exact direction of the source now and broke into a hard-core sprint. Leaping over broken branches and scattered boulders, she knew she was close, and yet somehow so far. She slowed until coming to halt, eyebrows furrowing together in confused angst. The instinct that had throbbed in her chest and gut was starting to fade away and she couldn't understand why. Had she somehow passed by what she was searching for?

Hope quickly looked over her shoulder to see nothing but the standstill trees gawking back with their gnarly limbs. She turned and looked ahead again, blinking when her vision focused on a building not far from her position. She'd been so confused by her fading desire that she hadn't noticed it there at all. As she moved closer, she could see it wasn't just a building. It looked to be a house. An old house with a dilapidating roof and scorched exterior. Her first assumption was that this place had endured a horrible fire.

Hope crossed the yard, gazing up at the dark wood as a soft whisper grazed her ear. It was hardly audible but present. Curious, she thought as she climbed the creaky steps and carefully walked into the place. She was careful to avoid any broken or weak floorboards, considering the interior was just as dark and charred as the outside. Whisper whisper whisper. Hope whipped her head around to see the front door had closed behind her. Tilting her head to the side with curiosity, she ventured into what she assumed was, at one point, the family room. The structure was vacant of all living things it seemed.

There was a heavy essence that resided within these walls and the longer Hope stood there in that stagnant location the more somber the emotions became. Like a heavy weight crushing down on her shoulders. Then, all at once, Hope felt as though she couldn't breathe. She began coughing horribly, leaving black soot in the palm of her hands. Her lungs felt as if they were about to burst with rising flames. Falling to her knees, she continued an ugly cough as the feeling of a searing blaze licked along her body, forcing her to shriek in horrible agony. She realized quickly she wasn't the only one screaming…screeches all around her erupted, shaking the banisters above. The house filled with a suffocating smoke and blistering hellfire. Help! The whispers turned into cries of torture Help us! Help us! They wailed in desperation.

Get out, Hope! Get out! It was all she could think while she shuffled on her hands and knees in search of the door that would, hopefully, lead her to sanctuary. Only when she was able to touch the front door handle did she find relief. It stopped. All at once. The heavy smoke disappeared, and she could breathe again. The fire was extinguished, but the same miserable emotions remained intact. A trickle of blood ran down her lip and dripped onto the wooden floor before she was able to scoot out onto the porch and into the yard.

There, lying on her front, she shoved her face into the earth and let out a sob. The torturous screams echoing in her memory. There were no other words to describe what being in that house felt like, and she didn't want to describe it. She'd never felt anything so…excruciating, both emotionally and physically. Whoever had lived in that house had suffered a fate far worse than she could have fathomed possible. What was this place? Why had her instincts led her here of all places? Why show her something so horrendous? Questions pelted her brain like hail on concrete, but still, she could form no answer. The only thing she was certain of was that she wouldn't be setting foot in that house again.