Chapter 27

Hazel's POV

"Please tell me hypnosis isn't that big a deal..." I almost pleased as the city lights blurred around us.

"It's too late. Aro already knows," Alec half growled, his unnaturally pale hands were turning even whiter as his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"So we're screwed?" I said almost in disbelief.

"More or less, yes," he said sighing, parking in front of a modern looking block of apartments.

"So what do you propose we do now?" I asked, sighing.

"We enjoy what minimal freedom we have left before we're forced to join a cult we want no part in." He said it simply as if he was used to sacrificing his own life for powerful vampires. Even though he was, I knew I wouldn't be.

I followed him out of the car; I barely got time to close the door before his lips were on mine. He had me pushed against the car, his hands gripping my waist. His lips were hard against my mouth with his body pressed up against me until there was no room left in between us. He broke the kiss abruptly as it started before embracing me tightly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, buried into my hair. "I just can't lose you, not after all this." If angels could cry, they would sound like Alec right now. He was shaking slightly against me, his breathing becoming more and more ragged. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed he was scared.

"You won't lose me," I said softly, as I gently wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling his soft feathery hair in between my fingers.

Alec's grip around my waist got tighter by a small fraction, but he lifted his head up so his forehead was resting against mine. I stared up into his eyes only to find that they were clenched tight.

"I promise," I whispered quietly.

Alec nodded slowly, his eyes slowly loosened, though they didn't open. It left me wondering whether I had made a promise that I couldn't keep.

Alec's POV

I couldn't lose her, not to a trio of power hungry vampires. I wouldn't. After establishing all these feelings for her, I wouldn't lose her. I felt a burning hole in my chest at the very thought of losing her. I felt empty, as if there wasn't anything worth living for.

"Alec..." Hazel said, tugging at my sleeve. I blinked, shaking off the thought. I glanced upwards to see that the elevator had taken us to the top floor. Hazel pulled me out of the elevator and stared blankly at me.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, her falsely coloured green eyes wide with alarm.

I wouldn't let her see me vulnerable, if she saw me at my weak point; how I could I expect her to be strong and cope. It wouldn't be fair on her to worry, this was my fault and I couldn't expect her to be put to blame.

So instead of telling her I wasn't, I did the right thing. I nodded and quickly kissed her forehead before intertwining my fingers with hers. I tried to give her a convincing smile as I led her towards the apartment. I fished out my keys from my coat pocket, but just as I was about to unlock the door, the door swung open to reveal a very smiley Felix. Combining the grin with his giant physical structure, his appearance was unusual at the least.

"Felix..." I said uncertainly, nodding once. His grin only grew in size. Despite the fact I was the one who was talking to him, his eyes were on Hazel.

"Hazel Cullen. A pleasure," he said, slowly reaching out before taking her delicate hand and pressing his lips against the soft skin. Hazel carefully assessed him before nodding cautiously. I shot Felix a dark look, until he let go of her hand, which took more time than necessary. Eventually he let us pass through, though the sound of the door closing behind us was rather unnerving.

I led Hazel through to the living room, where the TV was still playing the news from when I was here earlier. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder as she laid her head on my chest as we sat on the recliner. We stayed like that for a while, until my least favourite relative walked in.

"Well, if it isn't my new favourite power couple," a smug little voice chimed in that belonged to my sister. Hazel didn't stir against me, if anything she only turned her head towards me, it only caused me to protectively tighten my arm around her.

"Go away Jane," I half muttered, not taking my eyes of the screen.

"I don't think so Alec," she said almost mockingly, sitting down on the recliner opposite us. "You see, Aro's very interested in Hazel, especially after finding out she had a gift. And I intend to see if she even has this so called gift."

"I'm not going to say it again Jane. Go. Away," I said slowly, emphasising my point clearly.

"Not until I see if this power!" she snapped persistently.

We continued our petty argument until Hazel finally looked up. She looked up at Jane and I guess you could say Jane got what she deserved.

Hazel's POV

"Someone please inform me why one of the world's most gifted vampires is pretending to be a farm yard animal," Demitri asked from the doorway behind me.

"She asked for it," I said shrugging.

"She asked to be hypnotised. As a chicken?" Heidi asked.

"More or less yes," Alec said who was filming the whole thing on his phone.

"So, how long will this last?" Felix inquired. "Not that I don't find this extremely entertaining..."

"I don't know," I said shrugging. "This has been going on for the past half an hour."

Alec chuckled. "That's fine by me," he said, still recording the scene. "Hey, could you get her to clean my room? And maybe do my laundry."

"Keep your hopes up lover boy," Demitri said skeptically.

"Why am I on the floor?" Jane asked. We all turned out attention back towards her from the doorway. Jane looked funnily confused from her kneed position on the floor.

"I'm sure Alec will show you," Heidi said, a playful smile playing at her mouth.

Alec immediately handed over the Blackberry into Felix's chest.

"You can do that for me my friend, it's time I dropped Hazel back home," he said quickly, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the front door, I still couldn't stop the giant grin spread across my face.

I assumed Jane saw the recording once we left, we could still hear her screeching as we drove out of Portland.

Alec's POV

Hazel and I were still laughing by the time we made it back to the Cullen residence.

"I don't think chickens will be able to live up to Jane's impression," I said in between chuckles.

Hazel's grin grew wider as she back against the passenger seat. My attention quickly turned away from my sister's impression of a chicken to Hazel, who had a small smile on her face and was staring out of the windshield and into the distance.

"I know I have to join the Volturi," she said softly. Her small smile had slowly vanished though she still stared out of the window. She looked as if she was far away; it left me wondering what she was thinking. It was something that we hadn't spoken about, but we both knew it was only a matter of time before it was time to discuss it. Even though it was inevitable and fairly obvious about what we had to do, but I felt like I should speak about it. After all, all of this was my fault.

"I wish you didn't have to," I said wistfully.

"Yeah," she agreed, her head to one side.

"I'm sorry you have no choice," I said, almost too quiet to hear.

"It's not your fault," she said, looking up at me. I guess she was trying to be reassuring, but she couldn't ease my guilt, no matter how long it would be.

"It is though," I said. "If it wasn't for me and my selfishness, I would never have condemned you to a life of being a vampire."

"But it wasn't your fault Aro found out about me, and it wasn't your fault he wanted you to bring me to him," I pointed out. "My whole family are vampires, it was only a matter of time before someone found out, and then I would have had to be a vampire."

Except she didn't know about vampires. It all would have been fine if it wasn't for you. If you hadn't turned her, Aro would have dismissed her off as an oblivious human. It all would have been okay for Hazel, if it wasn't for you. You ruined her life.

I shook off my inner consciousness and decided it would be wise not to argue with her. We agreed on a time for me to pick her up for Italy tomorrow before she kissed me on the cheek as she got out of the car, going to spend the last moments of her life as a Cullen.

Hazel's POV

I unlocked the door to the house and shrugged off my jacket, leaving it by its hood on the banister. The house was almost had an eerie silence to it, asides from the TV. I walked into the living room to find Dad sitting on the couch watching a Lakers game.

"Hey Dad," I said, sitting down beside him. He looked up and gave me a warm smile.

"Hey Hazelnut, you're back early," he noted, his eyes swivelling between the TV and me.

"Yeah, hypnotising vampires into thinking they're chickens isn't very time consuming," I mentioned casually, trying to stop myself from smiling.

Dad turned his attention completely towards me. "What did you do?" he mentioned almost skeptically. It was the same tone he used when I had gotten a detention in high school or done something of that equivalence.

After I had told him how I had hypnotised Jane into thinking she was a chicken, after her and Alec severely pissed me off with their pointless argument, Dad couldn't help the smile from spreading across his face.

"I'd love to see what farm yard animal you turn Aro into," he said in between chuckles. My moment of light heartedness immediately turned serious at the mention of Aro. Dad soon caught up with the change in mood.

"When are you leaving?" he asked, after a few moments of consideration.

"Tomorrow," I said quietly, almost too scared to tell him.

"You know that wherever you are or whoever you're with, you'll always be my little girl and I'll be here for you. Always. Don't forget that Hazel, because whatever happens you'll always have us."

I didn't know what to say to that, other than it was the nicest, most comforting thing I had heard in a long time. I wanted to choke up with tears, but I couldn't, so I settled for the closest alternative.

"Thank you Daddy," I said, my voice uneasy with nerves. He nodded as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, holding me close. He rocked me back and forth like he used to when I was a kid, we stayed like that until the sun came up, and by the time it was time for me to go, I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave home, my parents, my family, the people who brought me up, but I had to.

There's a little father-daughter moment for you before everything turns around for Hazel. But what did you think? I'm only going to post the next chapter if I get at least 3 reviews! So please review! I'll really appreciate it and I'd love to know what people think of this chapter and the story in general. Comments and suggestions are also welcome :)

Thank you for reading, I hoped you liked it! The next update should be up by the end of the week.