Midnight Candleight

The night that followed the whispering voice was restless. Hope couldn't fall back to sleep despite her efforts. She even counted Newt's heartbeats and tried to make her breathing pace match his.

Nothing worked.

Eventually, Hope slid off the foot of the bed and dressed in the darkness. The Hope from a month ago would have cowered under the covers and tried to console herself while feeling bad for possibly waking up Albus or Newt.

This Hope didn't feel as such.

Under other circumstances, she would have chucked a shoe at them as a wake-up call and demanded they help her hunt down the disembodied voice. However, she had a feeling the thing was targeting her only when they fell asleep because it believed her to be vulnerable with her 'protectors' asleep.

Ha. Ha. Ha. She thought.

Hope rolled her eyes as she tugged her sock on and started out of the bedroom and toward the gargoyle, exiting the chambers entirely.

If she had them join her, she'd be less likely to have an encounter if somebody were in her company. So, Hope would have to go this alone.

You know, like the dumb person in every horror movie.

The thought made Hope grin.

While true, most horror movie victims weren't killers themselves. Isn't that a funny premise? 

Hunting the hunter?

Winding her way through the dark corridors, Hope moved silently so as to not wake the snoring paintings on either side of her. It was still very late, or was it just very early? In any case, the sun hadn't sprouted over the hills from what she could see as she passed ceiling tall windows.

Now, to find a good place to lay in, wait as bait for a strange entity that seemed to think she belonged to them. First, she was groped in the dungeon, and now she'd clearly heard 'mine' in her ear when lying in bed.

Enough was enough.

After some thought, Hope paused in the hallway and headed toward the Library. After all, it was nice and quiet and had plenty of places to hide and attack if things got out of hand with…well, whatever this thing was. 

As she turned, at the end of the dark hall, seemingly to float in the air was a single lit candle. Its long white waxed body was a stark comparison to the darkness around it. Knitting her brows together, Hope tilted her head to the side, trying to focus her sight on the candle and who might be holding it. 

From what she could see…no one held it.

"That's not creepy…" Hope narrowed her eyes and, with a sigh, moved forward, but with each step she took toward the light, it seemed to push further away from her. Stopping where she was, the candle stayed still, and moving backward followed her motions. If she stepped to the side, so did it.

It followed her every move as if she were staring at a mirror but not seeing herself.

Hope growled softly in irritation, and she took off at a full tribrid-speed sprint at the candle in a sudden spurt of energy. Reaching out for it, but the instant she thought she had a hold of it, the thing was gone, and she was plunged into darkness again.

Luckily enough, there was just enough light from the moon's glow that she could look down at her hand. She was sure she'd grabbed the candle but felt no heat from it. There was no wax. No evidence that signified she'd touched anything at all.

"What the actual fuck…" Hope sighed and looked up at the sound of a soft gasp.

A painting of an older woman sitting on a well under a shedding tree tsked. "Language." She scolded, fanning herself with her lace hand-fan.

Hope pursed her lips and sighed; she was too tired and irritated to respond appropriately, so she didn't. Instead, she continued walking down the corridor, straining her eyes to see any glimmer of any hint of a candle stick nearby.

Finally, she made it to the Library. As predicted, everything was silent, aside from a few sections of books trying to reorganize themselves. She felt it was just to give the Librarian a hard time. 

Finding a seat near the fire, Hope propped her feet on the green velvet ottoman and leaned back with her hands behind her head. Here she was, alone and 'vulnerable.' Now, all there was to do was wait and hope she was attacked.

Hope made a face.

She never thought she'd have to hope for that.

Time ticked on, and before Hope realized it, she was opening her eyes to the sound of a voice, no, two voices, and the sight of warm rays of sun seeping into the rug before the fireplace.

Blinking, Hope straightened her body with an audible crackle of joints and looked around. In the chairs opposite hers, Newt and Albus were staring incredulously at her.

"Morning already?" Hope asked, stretched her body out, and twisted her neck to work the cramped muscle she'd forced into an awkward position for a couple hours.

"Hope," Albus began and rubbed his short beard lightly as he stared at her. "What exactly are you doing here?"

Glancing over at Newt, it seemed he had the same question but wasn't voicing it. A fear in his eyes that Hope instantly understood.

Sighing, she shook her head slowly. "It's not what it looks like…"

Albus frowned. "So you're not trying to lure out the entity that keeps harassing you by attempting to make yourself appear vulnerable and helpless by being alone when, in fact, you're ready for a bloody battle?"

Pausing, Hope opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it. Maybe this was exactly what it looked like, but the lines on his forehead told her he wasn't keen on her decision.

So, instead, Hope smiled and leaned to the side to stretch her lower back. "Did I ever tell you you look so good when you wake up? Love the bedhead."

Neither smiled at her.

Hope sighed and slowly shook her head, a bit of her temper flaring. "You know what? You're right. That's exactly what I did," she leaned closer now, feet firm on the rug, "and I'd do it again."

"What if something had happened?" Newt asked. "What if you truly got hurt, and we'd have never known. How are we supposed to prote-"

"Why do you seem to think you have to protect me?" Hope shot back before he could finish, nausea rising in her throat, but she couldn't stop spouting the venom that suddenly laced her tongue. "I can't get this thing to show itself if either of you are there, so I took a risk."

Newt's cheeks reddened, and he swallowed hard while clenching his jaw. "You took a risk that we would pay for. That's just…" He trailed off, not finishing.

Raising her brow, she leaned back and stared at him. Albus was now forgotten as her daggers caught Newt's usual gentle green eyes that had turned cold and distant yet reddened by withheld tears.

"Go on. Finish. I'm on the edge of my seat to know." 

Newt swallowed hard and finished in a forced voice. "Selfish."

Selfish.

Hope nodded slowly. "Wow…" She forced the fakest grin a person could. "That stung worse than Henry slapping me."

Newt's complexion paled, and he quickly dried his hands off his pants.

"I just…mean…"

"I know what you mean, and you're right," Hope shrugged, "it's selfish of me to leave and put myself in danger to find out information about something threatening my existence." Pausing, she shook her head. "But you know what else is selfish? Expecting someone to stay within your comfort zone because you're afraid."

The silence became deafening, and it seemed Albus wouldn't intervene. Shit, she thought as her eyes suddenly burned with threatening tears.

"If you'll excuse me, my selfish ass has to give life support to someone I've known for a few months so he can continue to heal because sometimes the risks are worth the reward."

"Hope," Newt stood just as she did, "don't…leave like this. Please just listen."

"I am listening. I'm listening to you tell me, again, that you don't trust me. I hear you trying to confine me into the bubble you want because you're afraid to lose me…" Hope shook her head.

"I just want you to tell me, to tell us when you have these plans so that we can know to check on you. So that we can be there to help you if you need it."

"It wasn't something I planned!" Hope growled as the fire in the hearth roared with new life. "I'm not a fucking beast for you to CONTROL!"

Every. Single. Book. In. The. Library. 

Fell to the floor.

Hope took a shaky breath and looked around at the bare walls and empty shelves. 

Embarrassment flooded Hope's core as the back of her neck flushed. She ground her jaw and walked past the two, staring in shock without making eye contact. 

Hope waited until she got to the hallway to cry.