Finding Hazel -Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter Eight

Hazel woke up in the passenger seat of her mum's car, they had been driving for about three hours. She could only see the few a little bit of road ahead from the headlights. They were just pulling up to the trailer park it was located deep in the forests of the Appalachian Mountains. They walked up to the trailer at the far end, where the trees met the small park. They got out of the car and stumbled into the trailer. They both went straight into there own bedrooms and fell asleep instantly.

Hazel dreamed that night of Elijah, he was standing over Trevor's body he was stood so still, she walked around the scene until she was facing Elijah. He was looking down at what he had done. The regret in his eyes was powerful, she almost went over to comfort him, he looked helpless and defeated. She stepped closer to him and held her hand up to him. He looks up and Hazel can see a tear tailing off his cheek. She walks around the body slowly and links her fingers with his. Elijah's hands are warm and comforting, she looks at the sleeve of his white shirt peeking beneath his suit jacket. She lifts their hands up to her mouth and kissed his hand. Elijah looks at her and squeezes her hand gently. He pulls her gently into an embrace and they stand there together. She can feel the rise and fall of every breath. She rests her head on his shoulder and she can smell his cologne.

'Hazel, we've gotta go'

She jolts awake, her dream still vivid in her memories almost as if she can still smell the cologne in her room.

'I'll be a minute' Hazel mumbles back.

She searches through her bag and finds a cream jumper and high waisted jeans. She grabs her purse, slots her phone inside and walks into the kitchen.

'We've got a lot to talk about. I need to tell you a bit about our family. Her mum leads her deep into the forest. Hazel can hear birds flittering between the trees, the crunch of dry dead leaves and the crackle as broken branches crack beneath their feet. Before long they come to an opening, she can hear laughter and the smell of wood-burning.

They walk into a small settlement there is a campfire surrounded by logs, the logs were occupied with a small gathering. She noticed the clutter by the campfire. Loads of random objects sat in trees laid in the grass. Hazel looked up at her Mum as they reached the fire.

'Fran, your back' one of the men sat on a log said while standing up.

'Mike, everyone I want you to meet Hazel, my daughter.'

Around the campfire, there were eight bodies looking at them. She was introduced to Sammie and Cade twin brothers, Lauren and her daughter Poppy, Mike and Tod the eldest of the group and last Casey and Ben who were sat furthest away they all seemed friendly. They were all similarly dressed in jeans and plaid.

'Its time Hazel finds out about her true self as we discussed yesterday,' Fran said she walked Hazel to the logs and they both sat down. Hazel looked into the fire as Mike started the story.

'Long ago before the trees covered this side of the mountain lived a pack. This pack was cursed and on the full moon, they turned into wolves. They prowled the land and slaughtered anyone in there way as wolves. This curse was carried on from generation to generation. The pack was large and strong and they protected each other.'

Hazel sensed that Mike had told this same story many times. She listened carefully unsure how this affected her.

'The curse is triggered by killing a human. On the moment of the human's death, the curse enacts and your body starts to heal faster and build in strength. Our pack of which there is only us left, keep the tradition going. We honour the humans who die for us to enact the curse by leaving an item of theirs in our camp. Hazel, you were born from a werewolf mother and a husband who practiced magic. You are one of the only kinds in our pack part wolf part witch. When you were born your father cast a magic curse on you to hide your werewolf and witch powers as he feared what you could become. To this day, we still haven't been able to find a cure.'

Hazel felt herself lean into the story; it seemed such an impossible story. She looked at her Mum and grabbed her hand for support. She was speechless and trying to process this information.

'You are all werewolves? Howl at the moon fur and all werewolves?' Hazel asked.

'All of us have triggered the curse except Poppy. The full moon is tonight and we will all change.' Tod said.

'What happened to the rest of the pack?' Hazel asked.

'Most of us have been hunted our entire lives, vampires are our enemies but we have one advantage. Our bite can kill a vampire.' Fran added.

They talked all morning; Hazel was able to get to know them all quite well. She asked more about how they all triggered their curses and what it felt like. She was almost glad she didn't have to feel every bone in her body break.

'What your father did was an insult to our kind. There is no greater feeling after you have transitioned then running across the mountainside your pack around you.' Cade sneered.

'So even if I accidentally killed someone, I wouldn't change?' Hazel asked.

'You are trapped as a human, your curse is worse than ours,' Cade said, Hazel took a disliking to him.

'Now you know the story, I need to get you back home. We need to cause the least amount of suspicion especially tonight,' Fran said.