Chapter 10: Angel of Death

But by the time the guard had announced a search to be made for Hazel, she was already miles away.

No one seemed to know who she was or where she came from. All they knew and would ever know was that she was a beautiful woman who had appeared and then disappeared leaving death in her wake.

Hazel had traveled throughout the night only resting in the early hours of the morning when she was sure she was far away enough.

As she slept, a visitor came to her in her dreams.

"You did well," Raglan said to her with a smile on his face.

He had had his doubts about her and her capability to carry out this mission but her act earlier on made him have a little more faith in her.

"How are you here?" Hazel asked, confused, totally ignoring Raglan's compliment. 

She wondered why she was able to see Raglan so real in her dream. It felt like if she reached out to touch him, he would feel concrete.

"I am in your dreams." He pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

He noticed the look of confusion on Hazel's face and explained.

"In addition to being the prince of death, I can also travel into people's dreams," Raglan said as he satisfied her curiosity.

She nodded her head and sat up.

"As I was saying, you did well," Raglan repeated.

"Thank you," Hazel answered.

"The pleasure is mine," Raglan said and his smile got wider.

"You are already off to a great start, but I will advise that you move faster and with caution. This is because news of the Alpha's death will soon travel far and you are the prime suspect. It will be hard to miss a sexy red-haired beauty walking around alone and so your cover may be blown soon. On that note, I will suggest you wake up from this pitiful slumber and be on your way," he said.

Hazel totally agreed with his words but she was too exhausted to move on. Her energy was entirely drained by the anxiety and joy that had overwhelmed her during the mission.

Also, having run throughout the night, through dangerous terrain, had left her with barely any strength.

"I need some rest. I am tired," she replied to Raglan.

"I know, but you would have time for this later on. Remember what is at stake if you lose," Raglan warned. 

Hazel did know what was at stake but she also knew there was no way she was going to be able to move forward at this point without some rest.

She was famished and dehydrated.

"Could you perhaps be able to get me some food and water? I would need some to recover." Hazel asked Raglan.

"Humans," Raglan scoffed, kissing his tongue to his teeth. 

For a split second, Hazel was wondering who the human was till she remembered that she was now a human. 

"That was not part of our contract and is therefore outside my capacity, and unfortunately, I don't own any charity organizations so I will not be able to help out," Raglan said sarcastically. "If you want food, wake up and look for some."

Raglan's words infuriated Hazel.

"You should be lucky you are the prince of death because it would have been my pleasure to make you the eighth victim on my hit list," Hazel retorted.

Raglan chuckled, "I would have loved to see you try."

"For the last time Hazel, I'm telling you to wake up," Raglan repeated with a more stern tone than the last time. 

He got no answer from Hazel as she totally ignored him.

"Okay then, have it your way," he said and then disappeared from her dreams.

Hazel settled down to her peaceful dreamless slumber till moments later, she began to truly dream.

Her dream started with a setting of a happy, loving family with two beautiful daughters. One of the daughters had black hair while the other was fair-headed.

Hazel did not need any soothsayer to tell her that it was her family. 

The dream was so real it felt like she was actually there. She was hit by nostalgia as she watched her mother and father go about their daily activities. 

 It was a beautiful dream that made her smile in her sleep. 

Oh, how she longed for that dream to be true. She would give anything at that moment for her to be able to hug her parents one more time.

It was all roses for the family who were seated at the dining table eating dinner till all of a sudden, a man appeared at the door. 

Hazel could not see who it was but she felt scared all of a sudden.

There shouldn't be any man at their door.

Hazel's dream which had been comforting and beautiful immediately became haunting. 

She felt the presence of a dark spirit and that was when the man walked into the light and she finally saw him. 

He was faceless and had a black hooded coat on him.

He crept into the house as the family erupted in laughter at one of the jokes her father seemed to always have to tell at dinner time.

The family did not see him as he walked slowly toward them, but she did.

Hazel tried to scream. She wanted to warn them of the danger that was coming but all that came out of her was nothing. 

She watched as the man, with his machete, massacred the whole family.

First, he chopped off her father's head. 

He had swung his machete at just the exact moment as the father was beginning to tell another of his jokes.

She was dumbfounded as she saw his head roll on the table and went on and landed on the plate of the black-haired daughter.

Hazel's dream was invaded by a sharp, blood-curdling scream that came from the little girl that looked so much like her.

Next, the man broke the mother's head into two halves with a stroke of his machete.

Shockingly, the mother's eyes seemed to be fixed on Hazel as blood flowed down her face with the machete still lodged in her head.

"No, no, no," Hazel cried out. 

She wanted the dream to stop. She wanted to wake up but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. 

"Run! Stand up and run!" She screamed to the little girls but they could not hear her.

They sat rooted to their chairs as they watched the scene unfold before them.

"Please no, please no!" She pleaded as she watched the hooded man dislodge the machete from the mother's head and move on to the fair-headed girl.

"No please, NO!" Hazel cried as she watched the man stand behind the girl.

The black-haired girl was quiet now and sat with her eyes glued to the man and her sister.

With a swift movement of the blade, the man slit the fair-headed girl's neck.

"Oh no, Maeve!" Hazel cried out in a whisper as she saw the little girl's body slump forward and her face land in her bowl of soup.

The black-haired girl was next. 

She was still staring at him with her eyes open in shock.

"It is all your fault," she heard the man say to the black-haired girl.

The girl still had the same expression on her face even after he chopped off the top of her head. 

The room that had been full of happiness was now bloody chaos with body parts spewing around. 

When Hazel thought everything was over, the hooded man slowly pulled off the hood covering his face.

When she saw his face, she wished he had not uncovered his face because now, the dream had gotten worse.

Standing in front of the gory mess was the love of her life, Asher.

He had just killed off her entire family. 

As he stood, a smile slowly crept into his face.

How was it possible? How could Asher do such a thing like this? 

Hazel was still wondering when she saw Asher's convulse.

His head slowly lowered down as he observed something on his chest.

Hazel followed his eyesight.

Just below his left breast, Hazel saw a shiny blade sticking out with blood rushing down.

Asher had been stabbed. In the same manner, as he had stabbed her.

"No!" Hazel let out a howl and was immediately thrown awake.

She looked around her in fear. 

Despite her apprehension, she knew exactly what the dream was about.

It was a warning from Raglan.

He had invaded her dreams with a nightmare to remind her of what would happen to her and her loved ones if she did not finish her mission.

She immediately jumped up and got on her way. He didn't have to remind her in such a gruesome way because now the scary picture is going to remain in her head for a long while.

Raglan smiled, admiring his work as he watched Hazel continue her journey.