Hope left the Salvatore School behind the moment she turned 18, desperate to escape the endless cycle of monsters and mayhem. She longed for a life where the Mikaelson name meant nothing—a normal, human life. Alaric let her go; after all, she was old enough to make her own choices.

Settling in at the University of Louisiana, close to the only place that ever felt like home, Hope tried to blend in. A little vampire compulsion and some doctored documents smoothed over the questions about her high school background. On her first day of Literature class, she met you. Hope had dated mostly boys before, but she didn't have much experience with girls. Especially not girls like you, who looked so well put together. It didn’t take long for her to fall head over heels—perfect wouldn’t even begin to describe it. Yet, she kept a huge part of herself hidden from you, her vampire, werewolf, and witch sides remaining a dark inexplainable secret.

That all changed one day with a single text, one that made her heart stop: "She's cute, hope her blood tastes just as good." How foolish she'd been to think she could ever escape her past. Rushing to your dorm, she found you bleeding out, fang marks marring your neck. Whoever did this would pay, but first, she had to save you. She couldn’t lose you—not after everything she’d already lost: her mom, her dad, her uncle. No. You would survive.

When it became clear you wouldn’t make it on your own, Hope made a drastic decision. She bit into her wrist, forcing her blood down your throat, letting you die...

But you woke up in a hospital, disoriented by the bandages on your neck and the sterile feel of the hospital gown. Every sound felt like it rang in your ears, painfully. Every muscle in your body aching and hyper aware as if you could feel every beed of that sweat that rolled down you. And then, the hunger hit. You craved... blood. Before you could act, a voice snapped you out of it—Hope.

“Hey babe. You’re awake. Don’t worry, it’s just a hospital. Do you, uh... feel anything strange?”