Into Thin Air

Chapter 57

Hope watched as Caroline stood over the open casket. The headmistress wiped a stray tear from her cheek before she turned and walked back to her seat, heels somehow not making a noise on the floor. Despite the room being full of students and staff, it was dead silent. 
As Alaric stood behind the microphone, eyebrows pulling together in pain, Hope realized his speech wasn’t making any noise either. All she could hear was the sound of her heart pounding in her ears and a high-pitched ringing. She clenched her hand into a fist, fingernails digging into her hand, but she couldn’t feel it. 
Caroline and Josie sobbed their way through Alaric’s speech, clinging to each other. Behind them, Kaleb clapped a hand onto MG’s shoulder. Hope just watched. 
Caroline’s speech next, then Josie’s, then MG, and finally a couple students shakily volunteered stories. 
It wasn’t until Hope was out of the room and glaring at her father that she heard another sound. It was her own voice, rough from crying and saturated with anger.
“Yeah, you’re still spelled in.” Hope crossed her arms at her father with his back to her, hands pressed against the invisible wall. “The barrier spell didn’t go anywhere.” He didn’t acknowledge her, and she stepped up, collecting her fury. “You know, I’m not stupid enough to leave you a way out!” Still no response. “Let’s make a deal.”
He finally turned. Hope couldn’t tell by his stoney face if he was even mildly interested or not. She forged ahead anyways.
“I bring you three students.” Her voice wavered with the effort it took. “And I make the rules. You get one for the name. You get another for the location. And then you get on more when you tell me how I get someone out of it.”
Klaus shook his head, smiling. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“What do you mean you don’t know how?” Hope stepped dangerously close to the barrier. “You were the one who was gonna jump into it!”
“Yeah, in a desperate, last-ditch effort! It wasn’t exactly my first plan!” 
“No.” Hope shook her head and turned away. “No, you’re lying. I’m not stupid. You’re trying to trick me.” She waved her finger through the air as she gathered her courage. “You don’t actually know anything about this pit. You just want students to feed on.”
Klaus smiled darkly again. “Maybe it is a trick. Maybe I don’t know anything, but you’ll never know if you don’t try.” That sick smile grew wider. “You’ll never get your precious Penny back without my answers.” He laughed at the way Hope’s lips parted as her jaw went slack. “Vampire hearing, remember?” He gleefully pointed to his ears. “You want your friend back - well, the one I didn’t kill.”
“I want answers.” 
“And you’re willing to pay with your classmates’ lives?”
The answer came with no hesitation. “Yes.”