TSFS: The Return Of Xavier

Imprint

Ashley

The four of us ate our food. Rain was still falling from the sky from outside, and the night was getting older.

A knock is suddenly heard at the door. I get up to get it.

"Hazel?" I question. Her and William were outside my door. They looked rough. "Can we come in?" She asks. I nod.

When they walk in, The three of them give them questionable looks. "Sorry to show up unattended. We went back to the cabin, but you weren't there." She softly says.

Maya smiles at her, shaking her head. "No worries. We were a little bored anyway."

Hazel flashes a smile back at her. Her and William sit down on the cabin couch. "Sorry we haven't really involved ourselves in your life in a little while." She looked at the ground. "Just realized there's a lot going on right now." "Yeah, we just wanted to apologize." William says.

Why were they apologizing? Where did this suddenly come from?

"It's fine.." I ensure them. "We realize you're just stuck in the world of Crystal and Luna." Delilah suddenly says.

We all look at her, who was standing up with a glass of water. "That wasn't supposed to sound so harsh--sorry." Hazel shakes her head. "It's fine. We--I deserve it." She sighs. "I'm sorry to all of you the way I've acted the past week--the past few months."

I stare sheepishly at her. She was apologizing.

"Hazel--" Maya begins to say but Hazel cuts her off. "I didn't realize I was so full of myself until Drew pointed it out. Even now, I can't seem to understand that not everything is going to be about me and--" she chokes up a load full of tears.

"I brought you guys back--to spend time with you--not to go off with Crystal and Luna and help me with their problems. I don't wanna seem rude but--"

"You're getting sick of them?" Delilah finished for her. Hazel closes her eyes and nods. "I wanted to be nice. Try to clear the tension between us. Maybe if I helped them kill Xavier, just maybe they wouldn't think of me as the girl that killed Luna." she gulps.

"Instead, I sucked not only myself, but you guys into their problems, and now our lives are all at risk again because of ME. It's like a routine." "I risked our lives on the other side because of ME, I risked our lives a couple months ago because of Luna, and now I'm risking them again." she cries into her hands.

Will puts his hand on his back. "Haz, it's ok." She shakes her head denying it. "Of course it's not."

The room was silent. The only sound that was heard was the noises from Hazel. She was sobbing.

Delilah walks over, and bends down in front of Hazel. "Hazel. Sure, you have put us in danger with the other side and the Masquerade Striders, but guess what? You helped us out of it. No one else on the other side has ever found the wood hive, but you did. It was nearly impossible to bring back from void, but guess what? You channeled all that power, with the help of us, and we brought them back!"

Hazel looks up at Delilah. Her green eyes sparkling with tears. "Thank you Delilah."

"Plus, sometimes you can't always be with us. That's just the way it is."

Delilah gets up.

"Guys. We have to stop Crystal and Luna." She speaks to everyone. "They're up to something, I'm telling you. Weird stuff is going on." she states.

Hazel nods her head in agreement. "It's true. Even with Madeline." Delilah whips her head back at Hazel. "So I was right? Somethings off with Madeline?" Hazel slowly nods her head. "Will, you saw it too. She was almost possessed by something." Will nods his head in agreement.

"Her eyes were off. Like they were more orange. She also had a black vein in her wrist. Just like.." his voice trails off.

We all stare at him, confused but invested. "Like what?" Maya asks. William seemed to have lost his train in thought. "Like Crystal.." he finally says.

"Huh?" I say. "Luna has a black vein in her wrist?" Will nods his head. "I've seen it. It's almost always hidden by her sleeves. But it's there." Hazel tilts her head. "Well why would Madeline be affected by Luna--" she interrupts herself and stares at me.

"The cell," she spits out, still staring at me.

"Huh?" I say again.

"Show me your wrist." She says.

I stick my wrists out, and she and Will examines them. "Why Ashley's wrists?" Kira suddenly asks. Hazel looks at it from different angles. "Holy..Will you see that?" She asks.

Will walks over to her side, staring at it. His eyes widened. "Holy shit I do." My stomach drops. "W-What?"

"You have one too." She tells me. "It's not as toned as Madeline's, but it's still there. It's very faint."

Everyone looks for themselves. "Why do you think it's on her?" Will asks.

Hazel gazes at him. "On the other side, Madeline, Ashley, and Bianca were all controlled by Luna. She threw them in the cell, and Kira was gonna be next but we got her in time." She explains. "If Madeline and Ashley have one..then that must mean that.."

"Bianca must have one too." Maya finishes for her. She nods her head.

It still didn't make sense. "Well why is it just now showing up? Why wasn't it there before?" I question. Hazel shrugs. Suddenly Will clicks his tongue. He grabs Hazel's shoulder to get her attention.

"An imprint spell. With black magic." Will says. "Imprint? What the hell is that?" Delilah asks.

Will looks at her. "It's like a linking spell but instead of the two subjects being reactive with one another, they think the same way." He glossed over.

"Oh. So you're saying that Luna imprinted on both Madeline, Bianca, and Ashley?" She asks. Will nods. "Though, I don't think Luna did the spell herself." Hazel glances at him. "Why is that? Who then?"

"I think it was Crystal," he says.

Hazel tilts her head, furrowing her eyebrows with confusion. "You saw the way she acted towards Madeline. She practically let her choke me to death, and throw you to the ground."

"HOLD ON- She choked you?!" I interrupt.

"Oh yeah. She did that." Will says. Our eyes widen with worry. "She threw you to the floor too?" Hazel nods her head up and down. "She's out of control. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Crystal did this to her."

"Wait--but why would Madeline be effected more than Bianca and I?" I ask.

"Maybe because Madeline has been around the two of them the most. Compared to Bianca who literally is out of the state, and yours is very faint because you don't talk to her much, but you're still in a short distance with her." Hazel explains to me.

"I bet if you looked at Bianca's wrist. The black vein wouldn't even be there." Maya offers.

It was just starting to make sense. The weird vibes from her, from everyone.

"So how do you get rid of it?" I ask.

"I'm guessing the only way for the imprinted spell to die down is if the imprint master dies. Like in the void the vein wasn't as clear, because Luna was technically dead."

"Makes sense."

"So are you saying we have to kill Luna?" Maya asks.

"The wood hive is gone, remember?" Delilah answers.

William laughs. Him and Hazel exchange smiles before saying, "I think we have a solution for that."