become damp as the sun fell beyond the trees. Mercy and Noah had talked for hours on end about anything and everything, and they quickly became the best of friends. Mercy enjoyed his company, as well as his jokes and the way that he would widen his eyes when he spoke about something exciting. It made Mercy excited as well, and she was slowly getting used to his presence.

Mary had come and checked on them a few times, having brought a few PB&J sandwiches earlier as well, but with the sun setting, Mercy knew that Mary would come looking for them to at least tell Mercy she had to go inside. However, Mercy knew that she needed to do the spell to help Hope and the other kids, and luckily, Noah had helped her with said spell all day.

They had all the ingredients, things they gathered throughout the forest as they talked, Max occasionally running between their legs and making them fall. The ingredients had been safe though despite the dog's intentions and Mercy mixed it all into a small bowl, grinding it together as the wolf book explained.

Noah had been confused by the book at first, asking her, "What is it for? And why isn't there anything on the pages?" She was surprised that he couldn't read what it said, but then she remembered that apparently, she was supposed to be the only one that could read it, which was difficult when she tried to explain to Noah what each page said as he kept on asking whenever she turned the page.

She laughed at his curiosity, shaking her head. "The book is only supposed to be read by me, so the words don't appear to anybody else," she told him, and he nodded his head, slowly understanding.

"That's so cool," he commented, and she giggled at his words, seeing as his face lit up at the sound.

"Yea I guess it is," she agreed with a smile before she looked up, seeing that the sun was setting. She met Noah's gaze, nodding her head as the atmosphere turned serious. "Okay, it's time."

"Is there anything else I can do to help?" Noah asked kindly, and Mercy thought about it for a moment before nodding her head.

"I can use the power of your werewolf curse to help me?" She suggested, and watched in surprise as he nodded his head immediately. He had no doubts about helping her, and Mercy found that trait to be quite admirable.

"Okay," he said, breathing deeply before holding out his hands to her. Max was snuggled into his side, sleeping from the adventure they had today, and Mercy smiled gently at the dog as she grabbed onto Noah's hands. She felt her heart race at the contact, but decided to focus on the spell.

She slowly grabbed the ingredients in the bowl with one hand, spreading it across her other hand before placing them both against Noah's. Their skin was barely touching, but she could still feel it under the crushed up ingredients.

Noah was silent as he watched her, and she closed her eyes softly, letting out a small breath of air. She paused for a moment before repeating the phrases of the book, knowing that she needed to say it perfectly in order for the spell to work.

She could feel when her surroundings changed; she felt the presence of Noah fade away, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that everything around her was shrouded in a blue mist. It was snowing as well, the cold seeping into her bones as she let out a shaky breath. She couldn't lie and say she wasn't afraid, because she was, but she knew that Hope was counting on her to help, so she pushed onwards and walked forward through the snow.

The trees around her were dead, a far cry from the life they held just moments ago. Mercy tried to focus on finding whatever it was Hope wanted her to find, but it was hard when the world around her seemed so lifeless. It was like everything she walked upon had withered away and died, and she shivered once more.

She kept walking forward, a shout of pain in the distance making her quicken her pace. She hoped that she wasn't too late.

She stumbled upon a clearing and looked into it to see two people settled on their knees in the middle of a circle. The circle was made of salt, and there was a shrine in front of them consisting of multiple dead animals. Mercy swallowed down the bile in her mouth as she walked forward, into the clearing.

She noticed that one of the figures in the circle looked familiar, and when she recognized the head of curls to be her father, she ran to him. "Dad!" She screamed, passing the salt barrier without a problem and kneeling next to him.

When he looked to her, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open, worry and concern filling his eyes. "Mercy," he breathed, shaking his head even as the rest of his body was immobilized. "You shouldn't be here."

"Neither should you," she pointed out, and then she saw as something behind the shrine glowed brightly; the blue light emitting from it reminded Mercy of their freezing surroundings.

The man next to her father raised his head. "Where are we?" He asked, and Mercy looked around, as confused as he was when it came to their surroundings. Mercy figured they were still in the bayou, but in a mirror image of the real one, where this world was dead and dying and the other was full of life.

Klaus noticed the blue lights and remembered something that Hope had told him. "Don't look into the blue light," he said, as if it was a revelation.

"What is this?" The other man asked, and Mercy watched as he straightened his back, looking deeper into the light.

"No, shut your eyes," her father tired to warn him, but he quickly turned toward her. "Don't look, Mercy."

"I'm going to get you out of here," she promised him in a whisper.

"No," he refused, shaking his head. "It's too dangerous."

"I can handle it," she told him, nodding in her confidence before she stood up to her full height. Her father tried to move, to reach out to her, but he was still, and she looked unflinchingly into the light, despite her father's warnings.

"Hey!" She shouted, her eyes fiery and determined. "Stay away from my family!"

The blue substance, as if it were alive, shifted its blinding light onto her, but she didn't move when the light hit her. The two men in the middle of the circle were surprised when a deep, groggy voice rang out around them.

"You are a child," the voice said, as if confused. "You have no power here."

"You're wrong," Mercy denied, shaking her head as a smirk crawled its way up her lips. "I didn't come alone."

Mercy raised her hands then, and Klaus was shocked to watch as creatures entered the clearing. They seemed to be made up of green particles floating together to create the image of wolves. It was like a children's book, as if it was pixie dust creating the creatures. They stalked around the clearing, coming to stand near Mercy as the child continued to look into the light, not fearful of its power. Or at least, she tried to tell herself she wasn't afraid.

"You up for a game of chase?" Mercy asked the light before turning to her right and sprinting into the woods. Klaus was left in agony as he watched the light follow his daughter. He was unable to move, to help her, but before he could try anything else, him and Marcel were suddenly back in the land of the living.

Klaus stood up and immediately rushed to Hayley, who was supporting the weight of a dead Elijah. It was the only way to stop the ritual before the Hollow linked itself to Klaus and Marcel.

Klaus was breathless when he met Hayley's eyes, and she shook her head. "What's wrong, Klaus?" She asked, and the hybrid's expression turned grim.

"Mercy," is all he said.

Back in the Hollow's territory, Mercy ran through the woods, knowing already that her father and the other man were safe. Now, all she needed to do was to try and block off the Hollow's hold on the real world. That was what Hope explained to her, and Mercy knew it was important to get it finished.

She turned around, seeing the wolves surrounding her as a form of protection from the Hollow. She picked up a stick from the ground, mumbling under her breath as the piece of wood glowed with life unlike its brethren. Just as the Hollow's blue light entered the clearing, Mercy looked up, a smirk on her lips.

"Your power is fickle, weak even," Mercy said, surprising herself with her words, but she knew she needed to stay focused if she were to be successful.

"Says the tribrid," the voice responded, and Mercy was slightly shocked to hear a sense of sarcasm from the voice. She briefly wondered who the voice belonged to, but she decided that she would figure that out once she returned back to Noah.

"But your power ends here," Mercy said before snapping the stick in her hands. She heard a screech of pain, having to cover her ears tightly as she closed her eyes. It was an angry sound.

Mercy suddenly gasped, jerking back into her body and opening her eyes to see Noah staring at her in worry, his hazel eyes wide. He shifted the second that her eyes opened, letting his hands fall from hers and come to rest on her shoulders as she panted heavily. Her own eyes were wide, feeling as if she was taking her first breath of air since she started the spell, and her heart raced wildly.

"Hey," Noah began, waking up the dog beside him as he leaned forward, looking into her eyes. "Are you okay? Your nose..."

Mercy lifted her hand to her face and saw as it came back red with blood. Her heart slowly calmed itself, and she let out a deep sigh, nodding her head breathlessly. "I'm okay," she responded to his worries.

"Are you sure?" He asked again, shaking his head while his concerned eyes never left her. "I mean, it looked like a pretty intense spell from this side."

"Yes, I'm sure," she answered him gently, placing a soft hand onto his own. He blushed and pulled his hands away from her, and Mercy was surprised to realize that she missed his touch. They sat in an awkward silence, but just as Mercy opened her mouth to break it, another voice shouted and interrupted the moment.

"Mercy!" A yell from behind her made her eyes widen, and she stood up, recognizing the sound to be her father.

"Mercy, are you out here?" Another voice joined his, and Mercy connected it to her mother's, understanding that they were probably worried after what happened in the spell.

"Over here!" Her voice wasn't as loud, but they heard her nonetheless, and her two parents immediately appeared in the small clearing with her. Hayley dropped to her knees and brought Mercy into her arms, squeezing tightly.

"Oh, you're safe," her mother breathed out, and Mercy felt guilty for making them worry. She knew that what she did was dangerous, but she wanted to help Hope, to help all of the kids, and she knew that this spell was the only way to help everybody.

Mercy looked up at her father from Hayley's grasp, and saw that he was already looking at her, his fear still evident in his gaze. He bent down, looking at her intently as Hayley pulled away. "Don't ever do something like that again," he told her sternly, and she looked down at the ground, feeling like she was in trouble somehow.

"I just wanted to help," she explained in a small voice, and the eyes of her parents softened.

"We know, baby," Hayley told her, brushing a strand of her tangled hair behind her ear. "We were just worried is all."

Mercy nodded her head, understanding where they were coming from, before she perked up. Her eyes were wide and excited when they looked back at her mom. "I had help though," she told them, turning to where Noah stood awkwardly, his puppy squirming in his arms. "From a new friend."

Mercy smiled widely, but she saw as her father's expression dropped, appearing unreadable to her. She met Noah's gaze and gave him a small smile and an encouraging nod.

"Mom, Dad, this is Noah," she introduced, smiling widely. "And his dog Max."

As if knowing they were talking about him, Max let out a bark, and Mercy giggled at the noise. She looked back to her mom, nodding her head to the boy. "He helped me with the spell," she explained.

Hayley looked to the boy, seeing that he was nervous under the stare of Mercy's father. The mother smiled. "Thank you for watching over her, Noah," she said, and the kid nodded his head quickly.

"It was no problem, really," he told them, and his eyes flickered to Klaus's glare for a second before he said something brave. "Mercy's a friend now. I'd do anything to help."

The little girl blushed at his words, and that was when Klaus interrupted.

"Well, seeing as you can't stay out of trouble in the bayou," he began, grabbing Mercy's hand gently. "Let's get you back into the city. Hope has missed you."

At the mention of her twin, Mercy nodded, even if she was sad to leave the bayou. She looked back to Noah as Hayley stood up, and the little girl waved to her new friend.

"I hope I'll see you soon," she told him, and he smiled widely at her, something that made a part of her jump in excitement. She liked his smile very much.

"Me too," he replied before his eyes widened. "Wait, I have something for you."

Mercy stopped in interest, her curious eyes watching as he struggled to dig through his jeans. The puppy was upset at the bumpiness, and Noah let Max fall to his feet on the ground so that he could pull out the stone in his hand.

"I found this while we were looking for ingredients," he told her, and she stepped forward to see him hold out a pebble of some sort, only it was pure white and almost perfectly connected in a circle. There were small markings on it, but Mercy was entranced by the shine it held. Even in the darkness, she could tell that the stone was very old, but very pretty. She grabbed it from his hand slowly, running her fingertips over the smooth surface.

She looked up at Noah to see him blushing slightly, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I could make a necklace out of it if you'd like? My uncle is really good with that kind of stuff, but I just thought that something as pretty as you deserved something equally pretty as a gift."

Mercy' jaw dropped slightly, her own face heating up at his words as a strange feeling filled her stomach. She felt almost nauseous, but for once, she didn't mind it. "Thank you," she said softly. "I love it."

Noah smiled brightly, glad that she enjoyed it, before Klaus interrupted them again. "Well we best be leaving," he explained shortly, grabbing Mercy's free hand and leading her away from the boy before she even realized it.

And with a flash of wind, the three of them were gone, and Noah was left to stare at the spot that Mercy had been just moments before. He blew out a breath of air from his cheeks, shaking his head as he looked at Max, who was already gazing up at him.

"Hey, at least I tried!" Noah defended himself against what he believed to be a pitying glance from his dog. He really liked the girl, but it was obvious that her dad didn't like him. He didn't care; as long as he could make her smile the way that she had, he believed that they would become great friends, maybe even more in the future.

Mercy, in the arms of her father as he rushed back to the city at amazing speed, held the stone close to her chest. The smile on her face never faltered, not even when she finally went to bed, still holding the stone in her hand.

When she slept, she didn't dream of monsters hiding under her bed, or the monsters that were in her own family.

Instead, she dreamt of him.

>

thanks for reading!

-kay