Chapter 3 - Sounds Like A Plan Old Friend

    Everything Rose worked so hard to protect is all falling apart. She keeps herself hidden inside her room by her Asian styled bed. He's here and he's ready to take her.

The shadow that Rose so fiercely detests is coming to get her.

I regret nothing, Rose thinks to herself, taking away my daughter's memory was the best thing I ever did. Now she'll never remember this dark shadow, she'll detest him now. He'll never have her, never.

Rose feels a sinking feeling in her chest, she cannot shake the fear that is coursing through her. She cannot fight her enemies any longer, she is without power. Rose already has one strike for marrying a demon, she gained another strike from taking her daughter's memory. That was the last straw for the gods. They decided to take away Rose's power and make her mortal. She is defenseless and fragile now.

Rose's door knob begins to turn and then it stops halfway. Everything is quiet and then, "Smash!" The door goes flying into the wall that is near Rose. He found her.

His gaze stops on Rose and a smirk comes across his face. "Gotcha," and that smug smile is all Rose sees before it all goes black.

* *                                   * *

Air begins to suffocate Hazel's lungs. The air is fighting her face; it is stopping her regular breathing. She flies through the smoke and her eyes automatically closes on her. Her mind loses focus and her body begins to feel excessive pressure.

Hazel falls through skin scratching branches, and her hair becomes filled with leaves and a bit of dirt. Once her back hits the bushes, she flinches and thinks to herself.

Dammit, dammit, dammit!

The pain isn't all that immense to her since she shares the same pain tolerance as her demonic father.

Her disheveled appearance and scrapped knee doesn't avert her attention from what's important, which is her mother.

"I don't see a fire," Hazel whispers to herself. She pushes through the smoke. She's coughing and coughing as if she's sick with a deadly flu. "Mom!" Hazel shouts, but she doesn't get a reply. Her heart sinks and her expression becomes furious.

Her eyes become huge as if she is a cartoon character ready for a punch. She clenches her teeth together and her head feels as if it'll pop. "Mom!" She screams once more. Her lips begin to quiver and pain strikes her throat. Still, the room is as silent as a serious library room.

Once she enters the kitchen, her eyes scan the room and they meet with the stove which is broken and smoking. Hazel's eyes open wide and her chest burn becomes almost unbearable. She holds onto the counter and a small note on the fridge comes into her side view. Hazel staggers to the fridge and grabs the yellow sticky.

It reads, Looks like you're late. Your mother is with me, but let's see if you're smart enough to save her. Bye for now, wannabee hero. Hazel crushes the note in her hand and her knees go weak.

She falls to the ground and without acknowledging it, tears flood Hazel's cheek. They pour down her face; her tears resemble a waterfall.

There is only one culprit Hazel can accuse, and that suspect is Will. That comment he made at Kamryn's house was spine chilling. Hazel walks out of her once peaceful home and she begins to head back to Kamryn's.

* *                         * *

Once Hazel arrives, she knocks the door with her tightened fist and Kamryn opens the door seconds later.

"Hazel you're-"

"Where the hell is she?" Hazel asks in an angry, yet monotone voice. She walks inside and towards Will. Her sweaty hands grab the collar of Will's shirt.

Kamryn locks the door and rushes over to the living room to watch her friend's violent outburst.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Will replies with a fake innocent voice.

"Such bull!" Hazel shouts.

Her hand forms into a fist and she swings. Her hand lands in Kamryn's soft palm. She flinches and Hazel lets out a gasp.

"Get out if you're going to be all crazy," Kamryn commands.

"Kamryn . . . you don't-"

"Understand, right? No one understands anything with you! Just go, it was a mistake to ask you to come. If anything, you made it way awkward than I would have," Kamryn barks.

Hazel's expression becomes melancholic and lost. She stares at Will one last time and bites her lip to contain her anger. Kamryn opens the door and Hazel staggers out, still forcing her bruised leg.

Kamryn locks the door shut and tears begin to pour down Hazel's face again. Without her pure mother by her side, Hazel is afraid of losing the humanity she worked so hard to build up. She realizes that there is no point in just crying.

Hazel needs to figure things out. She's lost her little sister to death, her father to madness, and now she refuses to lose her mother for good.

As she begins walking, a feeling of fear comes over her. She feels the stare of someone. It is burning at the core of her neck.

A shadow appears from the side of an upcoming building.

That can't be him, he isn't real.

Out from the shadow comes a guy. His curly brown hair is the first thing to stick out to Hazel's eyes.

"Hazel," the guy smiles. His voice is soothing. It is like a soft tune.

"Who are you?" Hazel asks, backing away cautiously. She feels that she can trust this guy; that she knows him.

"Right . . . dammit!" He complains. "Before you get scared, my name is Aries, and I'm your friend, I'm not your enemy."

"How do I know that you aren't lying?" Hazel asks with an eyebrow raised.

"Let me show you," Aries smiles.

He walks closer to Hazel and with every step, her heart begins to feel like war. Her defenses are weak and the army makes its way towards her heart and attacks.

Aries cracks his knuckles and forces his hand right into Hazel's heart. "Urg!" Hazel flinches. Her heart is being squeezed and her head is pounding and pounding. Her eyes close and she bites down on her teeth with extreme force. When her eyes pierce open it changes to a yellowish color.

Vision after vision enter her mind. Aries pulls his hand out of her heart and she lets out a gasp of relief. Her eyes return to normal and Hazel falls to her knees and stares off into the distance. She knows everything now, she now knows that her mother deceived her; her mother lied to her.

Hazel does not despise her father. She is aware of his killings and the way he does things, but she doesn't mind. Hazel actually takes after her father rather than her mother.

Rose tried to make both Hazel and her husband pure, but no matter how hard she tried, it would never work. Hazel's mind was lying to her. She has killed before, she's killed half as many people as her father.

When Hazel's mother dragged her daughter to earth, she made sure to erase half of Hazel's memory and rewrite them. Now Hazel knows that she isn't pure, she never wanted to be.

"How could she?" Hazel whispers to herself as she stares lifelessly in the distance.

Aries runs his hand through his curly brown hair and sighs. "It's alright. She meant well, you know that." He holds his hand out and Hazel looks up at him. The sun that reflects down on his perfect postured body gives him a perfect picture. His bluish ocean eyes shine down at her. She grabs his skinny palm and he uses his strength to pull her up.

"Everything is so clear!" Hazel shouts in excitement. "I can't believe my mother hid things from my mind. Everything was driving me crazy! The shadows, the dreams; I feel like I can understand them better!"

Hazel is bursting with excitement. She feels like her old self now. There is no weird itch in the back of her brain anymore. The shadows do not terrify her as much anymore.

"Now to get to business. Your father didn't want your mother to know this, but he's been watching over you guys ever since you left," Aries reveals.

"So he just let me leave?!" Hazel asks angrily.

"No Hazel, he had to. He saw that you were becoming more than just a demon. You were cruel and emotionless. Rose needed to take your memory from you. You were ruthless!" Aries explains.

"I don't see why that matters. I'm a demon, demons are supposed to be ruthless," Hazel rolls her eyes.

"Not all demons," Aries sighs.

"Whatever you say, satyr," Hazel chuckles.

Aries is a satyr in the world of Aku. Whenever he sets foot on earth, his bottom half turns human. This is actually the first time Hazel is seeing Aries fully humanized.

"Hazel, don't call me that," Aries rolls his eyes. "Anyways, your father saw what happened to your mother. He lost sight of her once she left the house and he has no clue where she is."

"Does he know who took her?" Hazel asks.

"Yes, but you aren't going to like it. You'll find out soon enough. With that aside, your father sent me here to give you your memories back, which I did. Also, I'm going to help you find your mother and kill those bastards who took her," Aries continues.

Hazel's smile deepens and a feeling of fire comes over her. She hasn't felt this alive in years. Her real self was getting tired of watching over a wannabee human. That just isn't who she is, and she's joyful to be back to her old personality.

Hazel touches Aries's shoulder and shoots him a glare. "Sounds like a plan, old friend."