Her days had been filled with so much pain, yet it was night that Hazel felt most free. The secrets that darkened her days, lessened with the sun's harsh rays. It's why one of Hazel's favourite things to do was watch the moon from the large window in the living room of the cosy little spanish revival house that her and Mags called home.

This cosy, but not so little house was a little taste of oasis in the never ending warm days that came with living in California. It was spacious enough that Hazel had all the space she would ever need, those mature trees dotted around the house ensured there was enough privacy. Yet it wasn't big enough for Hazel not to be assured that her guardian was always around, if she was ever needed.

Mags had lived in Beacon Hills for what she claimed was eternity, at least thirty years ever since she had packed up from Minnosota as a young gorgon and travelled across the country in a rusty pick up until she ended up in California. Bouncing around for a while until she ended up in Beacon Hills and fresh off a broken heart, decided to settle here and make it her forever home.

And where does a gorgon live? In a place called Hell house. Well… that was what Mags referred to their house woman called it that because 'hell itself would crumble to it's knees, for the man who would ever try to come in and claim this house as his own. Words clearly uttered by a divorced woman. A four times divorcee at that.

This house was more than house, or even a home. It was a sanctuary. They spent so much time hiding their true form from the 'mortals' that Mags wanted her home to be a safe place, somewhere she could be herself. Damn the eye watering price tag attached. That outlandish attitude to money had gotten progressively worse when she realised her eyesight was starting to go. You only live once, which seemed to the words that Mags would live and die by.

Hazel hoped that she wouldn't follow Mags footsteps entirely, because the idea of being married four times was rather daunting.

"You've finally woken up? It was quite some nap you took little snake."

Hazel drew her attention away from gazing at the evening sky and looked over shoulder to see Mags shuffling into the room, her favourite bottle of tequila in her hand. Her rolled up jeans forever stained in paint and a shirt that looked that it was slept in for several days, at least. Along with mismatched socks - stripes and plain colours today. That was a lifestyle choice, and not a result of starting to lose her eyesight. It was supposedly a good luck thing. One of those weird pearls of wisdoms that the elder gorgon liked to toss out on occasion. Mags was funny like that.

She also came out with gems like 'never marry a man who has never brought you a painting.'

"Yeah, well I was tired." Hazel grumbled in response, she was full aware that she had been asleep for just over eleven hours. It wasn't her fault. Her eyes had been in such agonising pain that the relief only came from sleeping, as her eyes hurt a little less when they were shut. Her powers came from her eyes, through making eye contact so it made sense that things hurt a little less when her eyes were closed. Sleep made the growing pains a little less hard.

Growing pains. That's what Mags referred to it as. Every a few months, sometimes it was once a year this would happen. Her powers as a gorgon would once again continue to develop, continue to grow and it was a gruelling process both mentally and physically. It was at this time that Hazel was at her most unstable, her control was less stable and she was more at risk of hurting others. Hence the self imposed/Mags imposed lockdown whenever Hazel had another growth spurt. It was in the calm after this hormonal storm that Hazel's powers stabilised.

"You did well this time."

Hazel grunted in response. "I don't know about that, I'm still nowhere close to getting my act together."

"You are a child born to the Mother of All. Failure is not something that you will ever know. It may take some time but you will find your anchor. I have not spent all this time raising you, for you not to take your rightful place amongst our kind." Mags explained, with no hint of doubt traced within it. She seemed so certain of it. You would never guess that the woman was losing her eyesight as she seemed as sharp as ever.

Mags made being a Medusa look easy.

It was a comfort for Hazel to be living here with Mags, who was perhaps one of the very few people who could understand what she was going through. Their generations may be a few worlds apart, but Hazel knew that in some way that she was once walking the same path that Mags herself had once done. Except for the four marriages. Hazel was definitely not going to repeat that.

Mags had seen to that a long time ago.

Yet all Hazel could do was roll her eyes in a flippant manner at the reference to her mother. The title Mother of All, was a rare one. It had only been given out a handful of times in the last two hundred years, and it went to the Gorgon who birthed the triquetra of gorgons. Stheno, Euryale and Medusa. The day Hazel was born was the day that her mother Sariah had received the title, it was this glorious feat that elevated her to clan leader not long after.

Sure, Sariah Reeves was a strong Stheno, a fearless warrior but it was birthing the three gorgons that had made her infamous. It was dark cloud that forever hung over Hazel's head. It was hard enough just being a regular gorgon, a medusa even. But to be the daughter of the mother of all, made it a million times worse. Whatever she did, it would always reflect back on her mother.

"Yeah, yeah I know Mags…" Hazel replied, forcing a smile as she looked at her guardian who idly stood in the doorway of the family room.

Her dark curls, that were tinged ever so slightly with greys sat atop of her head like the crown it was. They were her trademark, along with her perfectly applied bright red lipstick. Mags claimed that just because her true form was scary, didn't mean she couldn't be sexy at the same time. The lipstick added a dash of colour and made her snake eyes pop. Hazel always considered Mags to be the physical personification of what a gorgon looked like. The myth, however watered down from the actual truth it was, had a tendency to describe Medusa as beautiful before she was turned into a gorgon and you couldn't deny that Mags was a looker. Even at fifty three.

When Hazel looked at herself, Mags or even members of her own family, she never saw monsters. Being a gorgon was something that Hazel had never learned to fear, she saw her kind as being strong. There was nothing hideous about being a gorgon, Hazel saw herself and the rest of her kind as beautiful, yet misunderstood creatures. Gifted with power and strength along with a power that only those with unbreakable will could control.

"I have some news little snake, the Hale boy stopped by whilst you were sleeping…" Mags began, nonchalantly rubbing her left eye - her bad eye.

If this wasn't a serious subject, Hazel would have let out a laugh as after all this time Mags refused to address Derek by his given name. He was always the Hale boy, just like she would always be Little snake. In Mags eyes, no matter how much she was losing her sight, they would always be kids to her. Or so Hazel liked to believe. It really could just be that Mags had literally forgotten their names.

Derek had been here? And she had slept through it? Hazel couldn't believe what she was hearing, and she had to wonder why Mags hadn't started the conversation with this. The last time that Hazel had seen Derek was that day back at the Hale house. Several days had passed since then, most of it in a blur for Hazel but she had remembered the important things.

Laura was dead. Killed by some monsters hand, and her body decaptated with only half found. The news about the partial dead body found in the woods had travelled like wildfire throughout Beacon Hills. That was small towns for you. Word travelled like the speed of light. At first no one knew who the body belonged to. Yet from when she first heard, Hazel knew it had to be Laura. There was no one else it could be. In the days since, the remaining half of the decapitated body was found and confirmed what Hazel along with Mags already knew. It was indeed Laura.

The last couple of days had been a bit of a blur thanks to her growth spurt, even now Hazel's mind was in a bit of a daze. She had lost count the amount of times in which her mind drifted back to the conversation she had with Derek at the Hale house. It didn't make any sense in the slightest. Laura. What had led her to come back to Beacon hIlls? Why had she not touched based with them? There was so many questions and not nearly enough answers.

"What is it Mags?" Hazel wearily asked, as she turned her body round so she could fully face her guardian. It was only now as she looked at the elder gorgon that she could see the tension in her shoulders, the slight curve in the corner of her mouth that indicated she was forcing a smile.

Mags wasn't being forthcoming with something and Hazel knew it. She knew Dr Margarethe Kone better than any one could. For Derek to come in here in the midst of suffering yet another huge loss, meant it was important. Important enough for the wolf to cross the threshold and venture into the snakes territory. For a few moments Mags said nothing, instead choosing to take several swigs of tequila before looking Hazel dead on.

"There are hunters in Beacon HIll." Mags announced, her way of speaking was cold and devoid of any emotion. If this was any other person Hazel would have thought it was a joke, but not with Mags. The woman in front of her joked about many things but never this. The monsters that their kind had always feared growing up was not the wolf who had eaten grandma, or the dragons that roamed the lands thousands of years ago. For their kind, and many others the true monsters were mortals. Hunters.

The panic set in quickly, the adrenaline was flooding her system and all Hazel could do was scramble as to think what they could do. There were hunters here! Here in Beacon Falls of all places… What was she meant to do? Did she call her mother?

"Hold steady."

Mags' warning was stern, but there was an affection to it. Her normally blue eyes shifted in colour, from a cloudy blue to a moss green and her dark irises began to stretch out in a slow manner until they resembled black slits. Her snake eyes.

"He will protect you. He knows what will happen if they find out there is a medusa yet to come of age in Beacon Hills. The unspeakable horrors that they will inflict… The Hale boy has sworn to keep you safe and I must believe that he will. He can protect you in a way that I no longer can."