The Owl House x Oc: Hidden Demons (S1+ 2)

The Secret's Out

Hazel had run out of Hexas Holdem cards sometime during the last day. She tried holding her form together as long as possible, but failed miserably, transforming back to the thing she loathed. Now, she was wondering the woods around Hexside, hoping that someone would arrive before the school day, so she could sneak in and grab her bag.

Her bag with all her belongings was trapped inside, with all her money, books, and spare Hexas Holdem cards that she didn't keep in her pocket.
The demon's stomach rumbled, and Hazel hugged herself tightly, leaning against the boulder she had taken refuge on. Hearing a squeaking sound, Hazel's ears perked, her tail wrapping protectively around herself as she looked in the direction of the sound. A small rat with eyes on its back was sitting not too far away from her, peering at her curiously.
Memories of the same type of rats living in the Emperor castle's basement flashed through her mind.

"Drain its magic, No.VI." the Warden ordered. Hazel glanced at the rat scurrying around in her cage, desperately trying to find a way to escape. She shook her head, backing further away from the creature. The Warden glared angrily at her. "No. VI, eat it, or else No.V will be punished." He growled.
Hazel shook her head once again, refusing to do as he said.
The Warden stared at her a moment, before nodding over to a guard. The guard stuck its staff inside No.V's cage, and Hazel watched on horror as he began to zap her friend.
No.V's screams and shrieks of pain filled the empty room, as the other basilisk's cowered away. Hazel couldn't take it anymore.
"No! Leave her alone, please!" She whimpered. The Warden signalled for the guard to stop, turning back to Hazel. "Then eat it." He snarled.
Hazel shakily reached out to the small demon. It wriggled in her grasp, biting at her hand as she began to drain its magic.
It grew limp in her hands, and Hazel knew it was dead.
Letting its body drop to the ground, she began to gag. Cowering into the furthest corner, she vomited once again, watching the magic aura dance around the room, before finally disintegrating into nothing.

The demon quickly stumbled to her feet, backing away from it. "G-go away!" She stuttered. The rat only tilted its head curiously. It stepped forward, and Hazel freaked out. "LEAVE!"
Swinging her tail, she hit the rat, knocking it into the rock. It let out a terrified and pained squeal, before limping back into the bush.
Hazel's stomach rumbled once again.
"Why did I do that? I could've just...drained a bit of it's magic....wait-no!" Hazel shook her head roughly, horrified by her own thought process. She hadn't had urges like that in a long time. "I promised never to do that again! You can just wait for someone to arrive at school...tomorrow..."
Letting out a sigh, she leaned back against the boulder as she drew her knees to her chest.
The demon stayed there until it got dark, before finally deciding to take another look around the school, hoping to find an entrance inside.

"Don't stay out too late! It's a school day tomorrow." Eda said, slamming the door shut. Hooty let out a yelp of pain, as Luz, Willow and Gus waved him goodbye. Luz was going to walk her friends home, after a fun weekend together.
The trio talked as they made their way through the woods, oblivious to the woodland creatures until a cry of pain followed by a hiss disturbed their walk. It sounded like it was off in the distance, not too far from their school.
Gus surveyed the surrounding forest anxiously, sticking close to his friends. "Did you hear that?" He asked. Willow nodded. "Maybe we should just leave whatever it is alone." She suggested. Luz shook her head, heading deeper into the woods. "That sounded like it was close to the school." She muttered, pushing branches aside to make a path. Her friends called out to the human, following her as they made their way closer and closer to Hexside.

Hazel crept onto the school premises. Making her way to a classroom window, she attempted to open it. The demon tugged at it, letting out grunts of frustration until her hand slipped, hitting the wall. She let out a cry of pain, hissing as she cradled her hand. "Dang it!" She growled.
Making her way to another window, she tried to claw it once again. She was too preoccupied to notice three sets of footsteps coming her way.
"Hey!"
Hazel froze. No, it couldn't be. Turning to face the voice, she paled when she realised not only was Luz standing in the line of trees, holding a light glyph out in front of her to see, but Willow and Gus stood at her side, each drawing a spell circle in defence.
The demon backed away. "I-it's not what it looks like-" she started, but stopped herself. What's the point in trying to defend herself? They don't know who she is. And she wasn't going to tell them either.
So she did the only thing she could think of. The only thing she's been doing for months. She ran.
Making a bee-line into the woods, she left the three friends. "H-hey! Get back here!" Luz yelled, chasing after her. Gus and Willow followed suit.

Panting for breath, Hazel pushed aside as many branches as she could. She had to get away. There was an open clearing up ahead. The demon ran towards it, pushing aside the last of the branches and stopping dead in her tracks as the "clearing" turned out to be the edge of a cliff.
Staring down, she felt someone run into her back, knocking her to the ground and pinning her. "Over here guys! I've got it! Quickly!"
It was Gus. He held the demon to the ground, watching her tail swing frantically as she tried to escape.
"No!"
Hazel struggled under the smaller witchling. Gus drew a wobbly spell circle, creating many versions of himself to help hold her down. Luz's and Willow's yells became louder as the seconds went by.
The demon felt tears pricking at the corner of her eyes and blurring her vision. "I'm sorry, Gus." She mumbled. Grabbing onto an illusion, she bit into it, and drained the witchling's magic.
Gus went limp, falling to the ground unconscious.
Getting swiftly to her feet, Hazel ran off back into the woods, clutching at her stomach. When she was far enough away, she finally fell to the ground, puking up the magic she'd drained from her friend. She watched it for a moment, as it disappeared back in the direction she came from.
The demon couldn't take it anymore, finally bursting out into an ugly sob.
"I'm sorry Gus...I'm so sorry...."

Willow and Luz found Gus unconscious by the cliffside. They rushed to his side, kneeling beside him. "Gus? Gus! Wake up!" Luz yelled, shaking the young witching's shoulders. Willow placed a hand on her shoulder, loosening the humans grip. "Luz! That's not helping! We need to get him back to Bones Burrow-"
She was cut off as a light blue ball of energy floated above them, before disappearing into Gus. He gasped in air, sitting up abruptly. "What just happened?" He asked shakily.
The two girls hugged him tightly. "Gus! You're ok!" Luz breathed a sigh of relief. Willow pulled away first, holding the witchling out at arms length. "What did it do to you?" She asked worriedly. Gus scratched his head, looking off into the distance in thought. "I don't know. It just...ate one of my illusions, and I blacked out."
Luz looked back into the woods, wondering why the demon would spare her friend.

Luz looked up at her school, Hexside. Willow and Gus had gotten in contact with the Principal and warned him of the events the night previously. Now, there were school guards walking around the school, looking out for anyone or anything suspicious. Many students didn't know what was going on, and Bump wanted to keep it that way.
The human was now looking for one of her friend's she hadn't seen since last week. She watched all the students enter the school. Hearing a shuffling of feet suddenly stop behind her, Luz turned to find Hazel staring at the school in horror.

(A few hours earlier)

Hazel sat still in the silent forest, her stomach growling as she stared at the nearby critters running back and forth, oblivious to the hungry demon.
A rat much like the one she'd seen earlier that day scurried by, stopping to look up at her for a moment. The demon looked down at the critter, tears blurring her vision as she swiftly reached for it, grabbing the squealing rat as it tried to get away.
She wanted so much for this to stop. The animalistic hunger to go away. And the only way to do that,