Chapter Text
“Do you really think we’ll find treasure there?” Hope, a young girl with light, auburn hair and bright blue-ocean eyes, asked her best friend.
“When have I ever been wrong about this kind of stuff?” Landon answered as he hurriedly tried to pack his last minute emergency tool kit. He was a scrawny young boy with jet black hair and wild curls, and green-gray eyes like the forest on a gloomy day.
“Remember when we tried digging that tunnel to China when we were five? Or trying to catch the moon by it’s reflection at Lake Tahoe that summer after third grade, so you could give it to your mom for her birthday? Or what about the troll that lived under the bridge in Central Park? Do I need to go on?” Hope said sarcastically.
“First of all, the tunnel would work if we dug deep enough. And-” Landon answered but was immediately cut off by his older brother’s incessant yelling.
“You two better hurry your asses up or we’re leaving you behind!” Ryan called from downstairs as Landon packed away his worn copy of Treasure Island into his backpack. They raced down the stairs, speeding past Ryan and knocking him off balance.
“Hurry up Ryan or we’re leaving you behind!” Landon called out at his brother as he and Hope laughed and hopped into the shuttle that had been waiting to take their families to the airport.
Ryan cursed under his breath before he stormed out of the house and locked the door behind him. He slid into the seat next to their mom, buckled up and was just about to reach around to smack his little brother in pay back. Landon knew it was coming and edged more into Hope to try and dodge the attack, but their mom Seylah intervened and pulled Ryan’s hand away from reaching Landon.
“Both of you, behave.” Seylah told her sons calmly. Landon and Hope stuck their tongues out at Ryan as he scoffed and turned to face forward as there was no use arguing with their mom.
Ryan had lighter hair but the same wild curls as Landon. He was tall, lanky and awkward though Seylah assured him he’d grow out of that awkward stage. Landon and Ryan shared the same deadbeat father, but unlike Landon, Ryan had never met his birth mom and vice versa with Landon never meeting their father. Ryan’s birth mom had died during childbirth due to complications, and so he was raised by their father until Seylah entered the picture. She had adored Ryan the moment she met him and for a while they were a happy, albeit unique, family. When Seylah became pregnant with Landon, their father took off, leaving Seylah, Ryan and the unborn child behind. After a while, Seylah was able to adopt Ryan as her own and gave birth to his little brother Landon, and the three of them became a family.
The large shuttle lurched awake and began making its way towards the airport. Hope’s father, Klaus, sat in the second row along with her uncle Elijah and aunt Rebekah, while her aunts Freya and Keelin were in the front seat next to the driver. Seylah and Ryan were in the third row with Hope’s mother, Hayley. Hope and Landon, being the smallest beings of both families, squished themselves into the fourth row where the overflow luggages had been placed. They didn’t mind, it gave them the privacy they needed to look through Landon’s emergency kit to make sure they had everything needed for an island adventure.
Hayley and Seylah met back when they were both attending community college. They immediately clicked and became inexplicably inseparable, and that never changed over the years. Hayley had been there when Seylah had met Ryan’s father, and Seylah had been there the morning after Hayley’s drunken one night stand with Klaus. Through everything, Klaus stood by Hayley when they found out she was pregnant with his child and so did his family. Landon was born and forty five days later, Hayley gave birth to Hope. Both of them were born into unique families but there was never any hindrance of love, because both families were bursting with it.
The year after they were born, Hope’s family moved next door to Landon’s. The year after that, both families took a summer trip to Disneyland in California so the kids could experience the happiest place on earth. The next year after, it was Disney World in Florida. It became a tradition between the two families, an annual summer trip together. It began as a benefit to Hayley and Seylah but then it became something everyone looked forward to. A new sight to see and explore for the kids, a getaway from the mundane for the grown-ups. Sometimes it was an excuse for Hope’s other family members to reunite for a period of time before they go off on their own again. This year they planned a trip to Hawaii.
“So, tell me why you brought that book with you again?” Hope whispered as she peered over Landon’s hunched form while he skimmed through the old story book his mom used to read him.
“We’re going to use it to help us find treasure.” Landon answered back quietly without looking at Hope.
“You can’t use the map in that book, it’s a different island! A made up island!” Hope muttered, causing Landon to glance at her.
“I know that! I’m talking about all the clues in the story. We’re going to use this book as a guide to being treasure hunters.” Landon responded and slipped the book back into his backpack. They were going to be spending the next two weeks treasure hunting and no one else was allowed to know about it.