Fortunate Son of the Sea God
A/N: Hey guys here's another chapter and I'm going to really try to get a schedule going with my updates from now on starting with my next chapter moving forward. I'll try to post a new chapter every Tuesday unless something pops up and with my A.D.D/A.D.H.D that could be pretty much anything! Also, I've written down ideas for another fanfic set after the HoO that I might post if this story gets more positive feedback. Finally, to answer any questions about the last chapter, it was based around the infamous Kent State shootings that happened in 1970. While my story's timeline and the timeline of the war will be completely different, there will be nods to actual events that occurred during the Vietnam War.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing besides my O.C
Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Voodoo's Child
Hazel POV
Hazel wished that she could be happy at all the money she was making.
She was sitting behind a table outside her apartment that was covered in all kinds of precious metals. Rubies, diamonds, and gold lined the table with different price tags attached to them indicating that they were for sale.
You may be wondering to yourself, what could be so bad about making money of off rubies and diamonds?
The problem was that these weren't ordinary precious gems. They were cursed and whoever placed their hands upon them was doomed immediately. Some people were cursed to an early death while some suffered other fates such as the loss of a close friend or family member. The gems themselves were summoned from the earth itself due to Hazel. She discovered that if she concentrated, she could summon just about any rare gem from the earth and while the curse didn't affect her directly, she felt empathy and sorrow for those who touched the stones.
Hazel had tried desperately to keep her ability a secret from anyone until a couple of months ago when her mom found out. Her mom immediately sought to cash in on the gems much to the protest of Hazel. She warned her mother of the curse but her mother, who was in dire financial strain, ignored the warning and threatened to punish hazel severely unless she complied. Hazel complied and started setting up a stand to sell the gems.
At first, business was booming because the curses hadn't had time to take affect. As time passed, people became more and more suspicious of the gems as the curses started happening. Hazel and her mom were forced to move several times until settling in New Orleans.
Hazel was minding the stand as she usual taking in her surroundings. The weather was gorgeous in New Orleans today. The sunshine lit up the bustling streets of the city as people meandered from shop to shop. Off-duty soldiers could also be spotted rather easily among the crowds in their uniforms. Hazel was aware of the war over in Vietnam but hadn't really paid much attention to it, she was more worried about avoiding angry customers asking for refunds for their curses. Some just wanted their money back but others wanted Hazel's blood as reparation for their curses which terrified Hazel. She couldn't help that the gems were cursed and that her mom was so greedy for money. Hazel remembered when her mom was a sweet kind woman who cared more about Hazel's well being rather than money.
Hazel 's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a man slammed his fist on the table startling Hazel.
"You the one who sold me those rubies a few weeks ago?" the man growled.
The man's appearance was terrifying for the smaller Hazel; his hair was buzzed down like the soldier's Hazel spotted earlier. He was wearing a tattered olive drab military uniform that looked like he had come straight from the front lines. His expression was seething with anger as Hazel sensed that he clearly wasn't here to make another purchase.
Hazel managed to gulp down her fear before opening her mouth to respond.
"Yes…yes sir," she managed.
The man started to respond before I heard a familiar voice behind me.
"Hazel, is this man giving you trouble?" her mom asked.
Hazel didn't answer and shifted her gaze to her feet, her past experiences with these damn gems indicated that this was about to get ugly.
"Trouble?" the man asked through gritted teeth. He planted both his arms on the table and in one swift movement he swept everything off the table.
Hazel's gaze remained at her feet as she could sense her mom's distress at the situation as well. This man had received a curse and he wasn't leaving without some kind of reparation.
"I bought one of those rubies to give to my wife before I left for the war," the man started to explain with his angry expression remaining unchanged.
"I get over there and everyone besides me and my buddy gets wiped out by an ambush and I get captured and thrown in a prisoner of war camp," he continued talking but Hazel noticed tears were starting to form in the man's eyes.
"They beat me and my buddy senseless asking for information but we wouldn't budge, so they cut his head off and threw me in a pit of muddy water and disease to rot," he added stopping occasionally to wipe tears from his eyes.
"I lost track of time before I was finally rescued and allowed to go back home to my wife and kids but I found out that she got another man and wants a divorce." He finished as his body was shaking from all the pain and suffering he had endured. Hazel felt sorry for the man, all he wanted was to get something special for his wife and now he was practically alone with no one to keep him company.
Hazel could feel a lone tear make its way down her face, she wanted to do anything to help the poor man but she knew that there was no way to help him besides give him his money back.
"We can give you a refund…" her mother started to say as the man looked up at her with a face of pure anger.
"A refund?" he asked.
"Yes sir," Hazel's mom responded with a tremble in her voice.
This surprised Hazel, her mom had always had a strict no refund policy that angered a lot of people and Hazel guessed that she didn't want to make this man any more angrier by not helping him out in some way.
The man looked down and shook his head.
"A refund can't bring my fellow soldiers back, a refund can't bring my best friend back, and it sure as hell can't bring my wife back!" he yelled in response.
"I'm sorry sir but that's all I can do for you I'm sorry," Hazel's mom responded. She was trying to be calm yet firm to the man but Hazel could sense the fear in her voice.
"No, you just don't get it do you?" the man asked as he reached for his pocket.
Suddenly, he whipped out a pistol and took aim at us.
Hazel gasped in surprise before she raised her hands in surrender.
"These gems are all cursed and I'm gonna put an end to any more sales from you two," the man said coldly with the gun aimed at Hazel's mom.
Hazel was absolutely terrified, she wanted to close her eyes and wake up from this nightmare but she knew that wouldn't help, she was in a living nightmare.
"Hazel, my dear…run," Hazel's mom whispered keeping her eyes on the gunman.
"Mom…" was all Hazel could manage in response due to all the tears streaming down her face.
"I'm sorry I was so tough on you child but you have more to live for, run while you still can," Hazel's mom responded with her own set of tears.
"No…I won't leave you mom, not like dad," Hazel spoke the last part softly.
"Don't you dare mention him!" Hazel's mom snapped as she directed her attention to Hazel despite having a gun pointed at her.
It was at this point that Hazel noticed out of the corner of her eye that a crowd had gathered to see what the commotion was.
"What's going on here?" a man from the crowd spoke up.
The gunman kept his focus on Hazel and her mom as he ignored the man's question.
"Dear god, he has a gun!" a woman squealed.
Sensing the man's next move, Hazel mom pushed her into the apartment and slammed the door shut.
Hazel banged on the door begging to be let out,
"No mom please!" she begged as she kept banging on the door but her mom had blocked it off with something.
Hazel continued her efforts until she heard gunshots ring out from outside the door and her heart dropped at her realization at what had happened.
Before she could mourn he mother's death, someone started banging on the door from the outside.
"Let me in you little brat!" the muffled sound of the man's voice yelled.
"Leave me alone!" Hazel shouted before she ran up to her room and slammed the door shut. Hazel quickly ran to her mom's bedroom closet and grabbed her shotgun. Hazel's mom had kept it hidden in case of emergencies and this definitely qualified as an emergency.
Suddenly, Hazel heard the sound of footsteps from the hall outside her mom's room. Hazel quickly dove under the bed to hide from the footsteps hoping that she hadn't made too much noise to alert them to her location.
As the footsteps got louder, Hazel started loading slugs into the shotgun as fast as she possibly could. She wasn't going to go down without a fight, for her mother's sake.
Hazel continued loading ammunition into the gun until suddenly the footsteps stopped.
"Maybe he's giving up," Hazel hoped to herself.
The footsteps started getting quieter until they disappeared completely and Hazel managed a sigh of relief.
Before she could climb all the way out from under the bed though, she heard new footsteps that made their way over to the room.
Hazel quickly tried to get back in her hiding spot but it was too late as the door opened but instead of the crazed gunman from earlier, it was a guy around Hazel's age with pale skin, messy jet black hair, and green eyes that reminded Hazel of the sea. He had on old worn out blue jeans, Converse, and a dirty white t-shirt.
Hazel simply stared at the guy in awe before he coughed to try and kill the awkward silence.
"My name's Percy," he said with a sincere smile. He offered his hand to Hazel who reluctantly took it and lifted herself out from under the bed.
"Sorry about your loss, no one deserves to lose a parent like that," Percy apologized with a caring expression.
"Thank you," Hazel responded. It had been a long time since someone had been this nice to her before. She started to get suspicious about what Percy's true intentions were.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to swindle you or anything like that," Percy assured Hazel as if he had read her thoughts.
"How did you…?" Hazel started to question before Percy interrupted.
"There's no time, the police will be here shortly, you need to come with me and I'll explain everything if you don't like it you're free to go," Percy spoke anxiously.
Hazel was still confused but decided that she couldn't stay here especially with a murderer on her tail.
"Ok, let's get out of here," Hazel said.
Percy nodded his head and motioned for hazel to follow him as they took off running out of the apartment and into the streets.