Vincenzo shuts the door behind him, his eyes on Hazel on the bed still unconscious.
Despite Rose telling him Hazel would be okay, he had his doubts and every right to be upset right now.
He was too pissed at himself to touch her though he wanted to wrap her in his warmth, but he couldn't.
Evan was very much upset. He didn't want to scare or wake Hazel up for any reason.
It would be worse if she woke up to a scary-looking monster. That's not the way he intended for her to find out.
Who was he kidding?!
There was no way she wouldn't be upset or scared if he told her what he was. And what she was…
He'd been human before only to wake up one morning in a different light and perspective of the world. It took him years to come to terms with what he'd become.
This was different because he was just one carrier… he was a carrier of four different species.
His background was complicated, he had no idea where to start all this from….
//The crystal witch! I knew we should have killed her when we had the chance!!// Evan snapped
"We didn't have what it took back then to kill her, " Vincenzo recalled, staring at the reflection in the mirror.
It wasn't his rejection in the mirror…he had no reflection…
He's lost track of how he looked. Anytime he glanced at the mirror, all he was…nothing
"And she's not the only problem we have Evan. We have the last guy in there that needs to get out" Vincenzo reminded
//He's been asleep for a year now// Evan informs
He glanced at Hazel once more, he felt his heart crying at this sight.
"We shouldn't have brought her here," He said
//it was our best chance at protecting her and keeping her safe. If we didn't go get her, someone else would// Evan said
"No Evan. She was safe. In her reality she was safe and no one was going to hurt her" Vincenzo replied
//There is no difference, Vincenzo. The human world is as dangerous as ours. You've seen it yourself. The malice, bloodshed, torture of the innocent… Either she is out there or here, she is bound to be in danger, either way,// Evan reasoned
"I wanted to get that beast out. I can't have her around me when I can't control how I react to her" Vincenzo said
//Now that you are sane, it's best you make the most of it // Evan said in a low tone
Hazel stirred in her sleep and Vincenzo hurried towards her, his eyes filled with worry.
"Hey" he muttered
Hazel's breath seized as though her last memory had just returned.
"The toast…" she panicked
"Shh…it's okay I'm here with you. You're safe now" he promised.
Hazel tried to calm her racing heart down. He had his arms across her shoulders but yet she wanted him closer to her.
"Hold on"
Vincenzo moved close, she placed her head on his chest, eyes closed as though to calm her racing heart.
"I'm…I'm really scared" she muttered
His heart sank, this was never his intention. He never intended for her to be scared or this frightened.
Damn, her body was shaking in fright! Has he done the right thing?" he wondered
"What happened to me, Vincenzo? You have to tell me! Am I losing my mind? Am I losing it?" She asked
"You're not Hazel. I want to tell you everything but I don't know where to start" he said honestly as he stared down at her eyes.
"If I told you, you might decide to leave here, to leave me…forever," he said
"Why would I do that?" She asked
"Because the world that I live, that we all live is a very dangerous one" He admits
"Just tell me, Vincenzo! Before I came here to work for you, I was in danger!" She offered
"What danger?" He asked, growing protective all of a sudden.
"I was drugged. By the man that I went on a date with. I managed to escape from him and that was how I ended up in your room. That night at the hotel" she explained
Evan was right, she was in danger whether or not she was with him or not.
"Who is he?" Vincenzo asked.
Human or not, he is going to rip that man apart, piece by piece!
"It doesn't matter …"
"WHO?!" He asked
Hazel caught a glimpse of the murderous look in his eyes and she needed not to be told what he was going to do.
She could almost see his intended action boldly written on his face.
"Jason," she replied without thinking.
Vincenzo nods in understanding, Jason is going to hear from him and that's for sure.
"Tell me, Vincenzo, what is going on?" She pleaded
He exhaled, not sure how things would go if he told her the truth. Geez, he has even prepared how he was going to tell her.
He was going to do this when he had some major problems sorted out but as it is, Hazel was desperate for answers.
He could feel it.
"You were..poisoned. by a witch called Crystal" he announced
"Crystal?" She asked
A witch? Does that make him a wizard too? He'd opened a portal and froze time….
What else would he be?
"An attuned" he offered
Hazel frowned
"Attune?" She asked
Vincenzo sits up and Hazel does the same, marking the serious look on his face.
"How do I explain this…." He zoned off and soon found the right words to use.
"An attune can be sensitive to the sun, earth, air, water, and wildlife."
Hazel still looked confused
"Those people can cast spells like the sun, some can cast spells about water," he said again.
"You mean, some people can control certain elements in nature," she asked
"I wouldn't say they could control elements but they can cast spells according to the strengths of the elements they are attuned to. For instance an attuned to the sun can create heat with certain runes, they can help plants grow faster, and burn off other runes" he explained
Hazel looked lost and confused. This was starting to sound and seem gibberish to her.
"It's complicated, Hazel, trust me."Vincenzo exhaled
Hazel nods, trying to wrap her head around what he had just told her.
"Crystal tried to poison you to get to me." He muttered
"Why?" Hazel asked
"As I said, it's complicated but I just want you to stay safe. Annie told me you recognise dark magic" Vincenzo asked
"I don't…"
"Yes, you do. You saw that her ice cream was dark before she took it" Vincenzo placed her hand on his chest.
"You said so in your mind" he reminded
"Ye…yes I did. But, I could be hallucinating…" she starred
He shook his head vehemently
"You've never hallucinated Hazel. Everything you think you saw, they were all there. They are real " Vincenzo assured
"What are you talking about and how did you…."
"I've known you since you were in high school, Hazel. All these things you saw in high school. The human-sized spider walking down the halls, the janitor guy having a tail….it's all real. You saw those things" he said
Hazel stared at him in silence, recalling those incidents in perfect graphic detail. She never told anyone except Ella what her illusions were about.
"N..no..mu..mum an..and Ella said I…"
"They said those words to protect you. They knew if they told you to want you saw was true, you might not very able to contain that information" Vincenzo explained
Hazel held her hand up to his face, to stop him from saying anything else.
She needed time to process this. She had told him to tell her what was going on and he did just that only for her not to be able to handle the information.
She should have prepared herself for the craziest explanation but must have underestimated what he was about to tell her.
"I can't beluga thus…" she muttered
"How on earth am I supposed to believe what you are telling me?" She asked
"You've seen it with your eyes, Hazel. Your toast turned into a dark matter. You saw the same thing for Annie"
"How could I trust what I thought I saw? All my life I have concluded that I have a serious hallucination problem and now you tell me that what I saw was true…." She shook her head, pleading with Vincenzo
"Stop messing with me please" she cried.
"I am not trying to give you problems Hazel. I promise. I never wanted to tell you this because I knew you would find it hard to believe" He said
"A..and that drawing of me…in that…." Hazel asked
"I drew it. That portrait is centuries old" he said
Hazel wasn't sure how much of this she was willing to take. How on earth did he know she had been in the secret room?!