The door opened and her mother was there, her familiar, calming scent washing over Hope, and she wrapped her arms around her tightly. She was here; she was physically present and safe in her embrace. The brunette buried her face in her mother's shoulder and sniffled.
Crying was not something Hope did a lot of. It was difficult to fight a battle when there were tears streaming down her face. She was the daughter of the original hybrid and crying was not something her father did a lot of; it was better to retaliate with anger than sadness. But not this time. There was no one for her to seek revenge against, no spell to return Landon and her family. There was nothing she could do. The despair washed over her like a cold wave and she tried desperately to swallow the lump in her throat.
"I woke up this morning, but dad wasn't in his room and I waited, but he never came home and I went in his room. All his things were gone, mom. It was like he was never here. All my messages didn't go through. And then Cami told me Landon was gone too. It's like they were both never here-" Hope broke off, starting to sob.
"And there is nothing I can do to bring them back. I hate it, mom. I hate it so much. I'm tired of not being able to save the people I care about."