Hope



  Hope

  Stacey Thompson

  Stevie Trinity

  Copyright@ 2016 to Stacey Thompson and Stevie Trinity. No part of this work can be copied without the persmission of the authors.

  Published by Fire Spirit Publishing

  www.firespiritpublishing.com

  www.thegatekeeperseriesbooks.com

  She ran her hand along the cold metal handrail. It shot ice into her hand and made her smile at the coolness of it. Hope glanced up at a beautiful red haired woman staring back. She was smiling and Hope couldn’t figure out why. Behind her blasts were going off and she felt scared at the same time as feeling safe. It was an unusual combination she wasn’t familiar with.

  Hope glanced down as the woman put a small girls hand in her own.

  “Protect her,” the woman whispered.

  Hope looked back to the woman and blinked.

  The ceiling of the hut greeted her and the moonlight streamed through the window. Hope sat up and tried to catch her breath. The dream had happened every night for the last week. It had to mean something, but she wasn’t sure what.

  Hope stood and opened her door. The cool night air felt good on her face and the forest around her was a stark difference from the war torn cities she’d seen making her way this far. She’d crossed the sea between Ireland and England to get this far. Her mother told her it was her mission to get here, to make it this far, but she was still unsure as to what she was doing here.

  “What are you doing awake,” the voice startled her, but she knew who it was. Her friend, Roan.

  “Same dream.”

  “It has to mean something,” he wondered. “Maybe you are supposed to find this girl.”

  “Maybe. My visions are normally easy to figure out. They normally tell me right were to go,” she sighed.

  “This time, it’s different,” Roan stated simply.

  “You’re no help,” she smiled and he cradled her face in one of his hands.

  “I try,” he joked. “This has to be important. Maybe you’ll know more when we get closer to London.”

  “I hope so.”

  “I’ll be with you the whole way,” Roan kissed the top of her head and pulled her back into the hut. “But tonight, we’re alone.”

  ***

  Hope watched the tall dark haired man that walked beside her. She smiled at the idea she had found him. He was built well like an Irish man should be with a wicked smile that made her understand more and more why they were there. He was the one she followed.

  Roan once led an army on the enemy that took over their world. The same enemy that took her mother and left her to figure out what was up and down. He was the Leader of Ireland until Eryx became the hunter that he was now.

  He was never going to let anyone who had any kind of ability survive unless they were on his side. It was a fact they all knew, but not many actually talked about.

  They walked a long time, as the sun went lower in the sky. Hope wanted to be closer, but she didn’t know what she was walking into.

  “How far do you think we are from London?” Hope asked turning into the abandoned home by the road. It didn’t have any coverage, but if they kept the lights low, they’d make it work.

  “A few miles at least.” He raised his eyebrow at her. “Is there a time table on your vision?”

  “I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “I’m ignoring the one with the little girl. I have Lexa to worry about finding right now.”

  “That woman who works for Eryx.” He sighed. “I think that’s the vision you should ignore.”

  “It’s not what you think.” Hope pulled a blanket from her pack. “She’s only there because of her son.”

  “That boy is long dead.” Roan glanced at her. “A lot of people are.”

  “Yes, but he still has a hold on her. Eryx and Kingsly will use that.”

  “What’s so special about her?”

  “Nothing much, she’s just the one that will stop Eryx,” Hope said sarcastically.

  “Is that what you’ve seen or what you think?”

  She just looked at him. He didn’t understand her visions. He wasn’t a Witch and didn’t have any abilities that would help either of them, but he was amazing at being there for her and she loved him for that.

  Hope laid on her blankets and Roan snuggled up behind her, putting his arm over her stomach. She felt him pull her closer to him and snuggled his face into her hair. She closed her eyes and reached for the arm that was around her and felt a safety in it she wasn’t sure she would have tomorrow.

  ***

  She felt them before she saw them, the group walking passed the little cottage shining lights in the windows. Roan was already standing in the corner watching through the window the best he could without drawing attention to himself. He held a finger up to his lips.

  Hope watched as the lights faded a bit and then glanced to Roan. “Are we okay?”

  “I think so. They were looking for something, though.” He glanced back to the window. “We should stay put. It’s nearly sunrise.”

  She nodded in understanding. A bang at the back of the cottage caught their attention. Hope met Roan’s gaze and he stepped in front of her, reaching for the shotgun in his bag. He stepped towards the back and stopped short of the pantry in the kitchen.

  Roan reached for the knob and pulled his hand back when he touched it. Before he could move, the door came flying down on him. Roan fell backwards and Hope stepped forward. Standing in front of her was a young girl of maybe fourteen. She was standing in fire and glared at Hope.

  Standing in front of her was the girl from her dream, but she was a lot older. The girl stared at her. Roan pushed the door off of himself and got to his feet as fast as he could.

  “Can you help me?” the girl asked. She looked confused and uncertain about what was going on around her.

  “Can you pull back that fire?” Roan asked.

  She glanced at her hands. “I’m not sure,” the girl said.

  “Take a breath. Concentrate on pulling the fire back inside you,” Hope said stepping towards her. The girl closed her eyes and let out a breath. The fire instantly calmed and then went out. “See, you can control it.”

  “I can’t, my mom… I’m alone and there are Bounty hunters everywhere. I don’t know where to go.” The girl just stood there, staring at the floor.

  “What’s your name?” Hope said, stepping closer to her. She held out her hand and watched her.

  “Bree.” She bit her lip and watched Hope.

  “Well, Bree. How do you feel about a safe place?” Hope smiled, still extending her hand. “We have word there is a group fighting in this area, you can be safe.”

  Bree smiled and took Hope’s hand.

  ***

  They walked all day, avoiding the patrols that came their way. Bree was learning how to control her fire magick as they went, but she was still raw. Hope understood how hard it was to learn Magick, but hers wasn’t near as dangerous. Bree had a long way to go.

  “We need to stay north of London a bit,” Roan said pointing towards the edge of the city. “They are in the city, but far enough that they can’t track them very well.”

  “Okay, you just tell us where to go,” Hope said with a smile. She took his hand and looked up at him. He tightened his grip on her and almost pulled her along. It wasn’t that she was reluctant to go, it was more that she wanted to understand. Bree just happened to fall into her lap. The dream she had didn’t make sense anymore and she was trying to find a way to protect not just Roan and herself, but now this kid with an impossible power. Things had gotten very complicated, very fast.

  “What will this place be like?” Bree didn’t look at Hope as she spoke.

&n
bsp; “I’m not sure,” Hope answered honestly. Bree sighed. “I know it’s scary, but I’ll be there to take care of you. What happened to your family?”

  “My mom… died. I don’t know my dad and my mother’s friend took care of me for a while, but she passed away not long ago, she told me to get to London.” Bree forced a smile.

  “My mom died when I was young too,” Hope said as they walked.

  “We’re almost there,” Roan said gently.

  “Good. I’m tired and need to know when I can get Lexa,” Hope watched the grass as they walked. It swayed in the wind and made her think of the fields she went to when she was young with her mother. They’d gone to a place that wasn’t part of this world. Hope knew it and wished she was there sometimes instead of here.

  “They will have more information on that too,” Roan squeezed her hand and smiled. “Relax. This is what we’ve been waiting for. a chance to turn the tides.”

  “I know, but that usually means a sacrifice.” Hope shook her head as she spoke. “I don’t know if I can deal with that.”

  “We’ll take it as we go,” Roan stopped and pulled Hope to him. “I love you and that’s all that matters.”

  Hope watched as the sun went down and they were left walking in the dark.

  “How much further do you think?” Hope didn’t stop walking as she talked.

  “You see the faint light up ahead?”

  She nodded her head.

  “That is where we are going.” Roan smiled and pointed just a short way in front of them. “We’re almost there.”

  “Will they know we aren’t a threat?” Hope glanced at Bree behind them.

  “They sent for us.”

  “There were more of us then,” Hope stated. She didn’t want to think about the people they’d lost. There were just too many of them.

  “They don’t have many either as far as I know,” he said watching the group.

  As they got closer to the light, Hope could see that it was in fact a fire and there were some small tents gathered around it. There were also clothes hanging from some of the trees. Hope wondered how they managed to keep this place safe. There was nothing keeping them from being seen and keeping them safe.

  A dark haired woman walked towards them. Her eyes were drooping in the small amount of light they had from the fire, she was clearly tired and at the end of what she could do.

  “Are you the group from Ireland?” She almost sighed a little in relief.

  “We are,” Roan answered assuredly. “Are you in charge?”

  She nodded. “Come sit down. You must be tired. I’m Lizzy.”

  “Roan, this is Hope and the girl is Bree,” Roan stated pointing to each as he spoke. “We were wondering about Eryx and Lexa in this area. Are there any ways to get in the headquarters?”

  “Right to business, then.” Lizzy smiled. “Eryx is fully in charge here. He keeps us all moving. There are Bounty Hunters in the area and we just keep moving.”

  “Trying to stay out of the camps?” Roan stated more than asked.

  “We all are. Not everyone trying to fight back is a Witch like Hope here,” she pointed at Hope with a smile.

  “How did you know?” Hope was startled by being outed in such a way.

  “I have my own ways of figuring things out.” She smiled as she spoke. “Why try to get in?”

  “There might be a way to turn the tide on this war,” Roan said watching Lizzy for a reaction.

  “Right, and I might get a new house in the middle of London.” She shook her head.

  “It’s true. I can see the future and this is it. A turning point in this war is coming and it starts with Lexa.”

  “Lexa is on the other side. She’d been killing us for months after she was handpicked by Eryx herself.” Lizzy shook her head. “Your information is wrong.”

  “What if it isn’t?” Hope was getting forceful now. She knew this was the right thing to do, but convincing them was going to be hard.

  “I am not letting what’s left of this group go in and get killed for nothing.”

  “What if we ask them? The ones that don’t want to come, don’t have to.” Roan spoke up.

  “It’s their choice, but I’m telling you, they won’t do it.” Lizzy watched them and then stood from her sitting spot near the fire.

  “You best get some sleep. It sounds like you are going to have a long day and you will need sleep.”

  Hope nodded and pulled Roan to a small area near the front of the now dying fire.

  “This isn’t going to work, is it?” Hope was fighting with her hair as she watched Bree sleep not far from them.

  “It will.” Roan wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head.

  “What about Bree? She can’t be a part of this.”

  “I’ll take care of her here while you get Lexa,” Roan reassured her.

  “It’s going to take the both of them. I’m just the bridge that brings them together,” Hope shook her head. “Once this is over, I’m going back to Ireland with you. We’re getting out of this mess and starting a life.”

  “With children?” He teased.

  “Lots of them, but not in this world.”

  “No, we will change it and it will be everything we wanted,” Hope sunk into Roan and sighed. She felt safe for the first time in a long time. The idea of the future was odd to her. Nothing was clear except that she had to get Lexa and Bree together and they needed to work together. Hope just didn’t know how.

  ***

  The smoke in front of Hope cleared and she could see the large building that Eryx was in. There were people all around her. Some from the camp and others from the place they kept those they captured. She made her way inside and somehow they managed to open the door. Standing behind it was the woman she was looking for. Lexa with tears in her eyes and an unsure look on her face.

  Hope’s eyes flew open and she was staring at the horizon. The sun was coming up and others were getting things together. Hope reached for Roan, but he wasn’t there. She scrambled for her feet until she saw Bree sitting at the fire eating what looked like oatmeal.

  “What’s gotten into you?” Bree asked taking a bite.

  “Nothing. Where’s Roan?” She wiped the sweat from her forehead and tried to slow her breathing. When she had a vision, it was always weird to come back from.

  “He went to get people that would go with you today.” She sat the bowl down. “I’ll go with you.”

  “No. You need to stay someplace safe. You will stay with Roan,” Hope didn’t give her a chance to disagree and walked away. She had half the puzzle and wanted to keep it safe.

  She found him standing by the small pond near the camp area. Hope didn’t even realize it was here until she saw him standing by it. He looked tired and like the weight of all this was starting to finally take its toll, but he’d never admit it.

  “I have five that will go,” Roan didn’t look at her as he spoke.

  “Any Witches?”

  “One, but he’d just a kid,” Roan said throwing a rock into the water.

  “What can he do?” Hope stared out into the water.

  “He uses Earth Magick. I’m not sure how far he’s mastered it, his name is Lucas.” Roan reached for her hand. “It’s now or never.”

  “Yeah. I had the dream about Lexa again,” she said. “It has to be today.”

  “Then, we’ll do it.”

  “Yeah and if we fail, everything will get worse,” Hope almost laughed.

  “Then you won’t fail.” He smiled at her. “You never do.”

  ***

  The group stood at the edge of the compound and watched the guards and others pass by. They were keeping people in more than out and didn’t notice the small group of people wondering around outside the fence.

  “Can you make a tunnel?” Hope asked Lucas.

  “Yeah, how far?”

  “Far enough to get to the door.” Hope gest
ured. “Hurry up.”

  Lucas shook his head and raised his hands only a little. The ground in front of them tunneled into a hole that kept going. While the top held so no one inside the fence could see there was a secret tunnel that led right to the front door. He was young, maybe sixteen, but he was smart.

  “Is that good?” He smiled so his dark eyes even had a glimmer to them.

  Hope gestured for everyone to go in the tunnel and she followed, glancing behind them. The group made it to the front door of the compound. Two guys rushed them and Lucas brought the ground up around them and Hope watched as the ground swallowed the two guards without a trace.

  “What was that?” Hope said hurrying to the door.

  “I was helping,” Lucas said pushing the doors open and walking in first. The others came in behind Hope and Lucas, pulling most of the guards against the wall before Hope and Lucas could get to them. She hurried passed them and came to the same metal door she dreamt about. Hope hesitated and then put her hand on the knob. This is it.

  She opened the door just as a loud bang came from behind her. She didn’t bother looking back. She simply stepped through the door and saw the dark haired woman standing in the hallway. Hope held out her hand.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” Hope said. “We don’t have much time. You have to come with me.”

  Lexa just looked at her before speaking. “No, my home is here.”

  “That’s not true, all you’ve done is hurt people here. We can change that, you can come back from this, you can fight.” Hope held her hand out further. She knew it had to be Lexa’s choice, but she wanted her to take the chance; she wanted her to fight for herself.

  “I can’t.” Lexa shook her head.

  “You can. I’ll show you how, but you have to make the first step.” Hope watched her. “My name is Hope.” She watched as her gaze changed from fear to feeling safe. Hope didn’t know what had happened, but something changed her mind.

  Hope pulled Lexa through the hallway with Lucas behind them. They made their way through all the chaos and also managed to get the fence open where the prisoners were held. Hope could hear them cheering and pushing through to freedom. She felt some pride in the fact she had helped make this happen. They took off as fast as they could until she could see the edge of the camp.