Finding Hazel -Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter Five

'Hi, my name is Hazel Pepper and I'll be your server today.'

Hazel was working the dinner shift; she had been doing as much overtime as possible to appease her boss for missing two shifts in a row and not calling in. She played those hours in her head over and over while on autopilot taking orders, grabbing ketchup and cleaning spills. She remembers that those memories terrified her, but now going over them it felt like nothing as if all emotion had been taken from the scenes. She knew how she was meant to feel, but it didn't make sense connecting those emotions, it confused her. These thoughts haunted her, without the feeling of foreboding. She felt nothing, empty, blankness. As soon as these thoughts left her head, she could feel the colours come back to her emotions the feeling of a happy customer leaving a tip well earned, the frustration at the clicking of fingers, and the mortification every time she dropped a glass.

At one of her tables, she could see Elena's Aunt Jenna and Alaric the history teacher. She brought over the condiment tray and cutlery buckets for the table.

'So now I'm playing historical society hostess to some writer who's doing his book on small-town Virginia,' Jenna said.

'Well that sounds...' Ric responded.

Hazel wiped down a table that had just been abandoned, she looked up and saw Tyler.

'Hey Tyler, I was hoping to bump into you, I was at the ball the other night and lost my purse in the car park. Was anything handed in?' Hazel asked.

'I dunno, give my mum a call, she'll know,' Tyler responded while looking around the grill he must have caught eyes with someone, he walked away.

The cliques in this town were strong and fully formed, she struggled socially in this town. Matt was kind to her; he was kind to everyone he always helped her at work when they were slammed. She could watch the teenage drama from a distance and feel the peace that she wasn't involved with it. She knew who to stay away from and how to get by before her mum would eventually move her to another town in a year or two.

Her mother never revealed what she did for a living but she made sure that Hazel never mentioned her to anyone where ever she lived. Her mum would rent a place and secure a job for her and leave her to school and work so that she had no time for socialising. She would call Hazel every Friday evening and ask her a run of questions of who she was hanging around with and if she had settled in. When her mum had called last Friday, Hazel lied, every time she tried to explain what happened she would forget how to explain it.

After her shift she went upstairs to her apartment and flopped onto the sofa, her mind ached from trying to figure out how to say what had happened, she even tried writing it down. It was so infuriating exhausting; she fell asleep almost instantly.

She dreamed about the road trip, how she felt safe before she knew who was driving. The calming classical music that drifted through the speakers the warmth of the jacket that had been placed over her. She could even imagine his face showing concern for her. Elijah would smile at her in her dreams it confused Hazel. She only remembered she should be terrified of him but again she couldn't reach that emotion.

Her dream deepened she remember the way he had fastened her seatbelt. This time her dream changed she could feel his breath on her face. It was warm and minty; she felt a tingle go up her spine. He looked straight into her eyes, the warm brown shone. His hair looked soft, she wanted to reach out and touch it. He didn't move and a second later he moved back. She felt rejected she had wanted him to-

Her eyes flew open her breathing was heavy why had she dreamed that. She got up off the sofa and walked over to her bed, she sat on the edge and remembered the spine-tingling feeling. She shook the thought out of her mind, Elijah was the bad guy, he murdered three people in front of her he had forced her to drink his blood, he was a monster.

She lay back and fell into a dreamless sleep, awakened only by her alarm, which could only mean school. She jumped into the shower she was shocked as the water was freezing, she jumped out and swept her hair into a bun, she lathered up and jumped back in just to get the suds off before turning the shower off and wrapping a towel around her body. She picked up her laptop and checked her gas bills. She had missed a payment on the weekend and quickly paid for it.

Hazel dried herself off and put on a pair of jeans and a sweater. Then spent ten minutes on her makeup she did a quick liner and checked her watch. She was going to be late at this rate. Her car was still at the Lockwood's until she gets her keys back. So, she quickly left the apartment and caught the bus to school.

School is dull, everyone else seems to be preparing for some Booster Club Barbeque. Hazel didn't really care about going she'd had one of those days where talking to anyone was a chore, she came across Matt and Caroline and nodded. They were having an intense conversation so she sped up.

Someone dragged her to them, it was Lucas.

'Hey Hazel, I'm trying to talk to you.'

'What... sorry, I-'

'Look, I want to be friends you can't ignore my messages forever.'

'I lost my phone, the night of the ball,'

' Look, what I did at the ball, it wasn't cool. I agreed to spend some time with you, your new and all. I shouldn't-'

'Exactly, I'm new in town, I'm always the newbie. I'm used to it.' Hazel said she shrugged his hand off of her arm and took a step back. 'Look, I still need a friend in this town, just do better, okay.'

Lucas nodded and walked off towards the barbeque. Hazel walked up to the office. She dialed Tyler Lockwood's mum's number on the free phone.

'Carol Lockwood speaking.'

'Hi Carol, Its Hazel Pepper, I lost my purse at the ball the other night it had a phone and keys in it, any chance it turned up?'

'Hazel, so it's your car that's been parked up all week, I have a tow truck picking up tomorrow. We found a purse gold hardware, green all over.'

'That must be it, can I pick it up later, sorry about my car, I haven't had a chance to call you.'

Hazel said her goodbyes and walked to the bus stop that would take her the closest to the Lockwood estate. The bus took them past the grill, she saw Jenna and the back of a man walking in. He looked familiar, she watched him as the bus drove past. It was Elijah.