Chapter 7: The Hale Fire
[Talia Hale]
[Hale House]:
It was after dinner that the smell hit her — The scent of fire.
Dinner had just concluded and, surprisingly, even her little brother, Peter, had joined them for dinner.
He never joins these things.
Every Hale was present tonight. From her sons to her daughters to her brother and nephews. Every Hale in the pack attended this dinner — And, with them, every non-Hale member of the pack as well, which, while not many, was still quite impressive. Some pack members were newly bitten or untamed. Some carried the blood but couldn't yet turn. Others should've been able to turn but was blessed able to do so.
But all under the Hale House roof was pack — And it was the first time in months that the entirety of the Hale Pack was under one roof.
They had no idea that, for a majority of them, such a meeting would be their last.
Derek played with that mini-basketball of his, the corresponding mini-hoop long forgotten in favor of chucking the ball in the air to catch it. He had a joyful look on his face as usual, even as his younger cousin — Sean — tried, and failed, to take the ball from him.
[Sean Hale Reference Image 1]:
Peter was watching the interaction with a minor sense of amusement, clearly bemused by Sean choosing to tackle Derek instead of getting the ball.
Laura and Cora were both doing nails as they laughed to gossip only they seemed to find funny.
Some pack members were socializing with one another. Others were enjoying the company of pack silently.
The environment was ambientive and calm. And Talia was grateful that no matter how long in-between the meets made these meets rare, they can always gather and it ends up being like they never even left. And, as the alpha, she can clearly say there was never a better feeling this.
'To always feel this whole,' Talia thought as she oversaw her pack, pride overflowing within her.
She had no idea that the feeling would also be her ruin...
She felt the heat before she smelled it.
It felt like she had only just closed her eyes after putting to bed everyone else when her danger-screaming instincts yelled at her to open them once more.
The fire was alive. The inferno all-consuming. Many of her packmates were already dead, wounded or in seriously critical condition.
As Talia coughed into her sleeve, her breathing ragged, she felt adrenaline crash her veins as she made her way to her children's rooms, fighting the smoke and ignoring the screams.
"Mother!" Derek's voice sounded behind a wall of flame, his hands clutching an unconscious Cora. "The fire is too high! We can't get through!"
"It will be okay! Go the other way around! I'll meet you there!" Talia ordered. "Where's your sister?!"
"Laura was closer to Peter's room when the fire started — She smelled it first and rushed to get everyone out!" Derek explained. "I-I don't know where she is right now."
Despair threatened to consume the evolved alpha wolf, but Talia pushed it down. 'Whoever is responsible for this will pay,' she thought, coughing into the inferno. 'But, first, I need to get them out of here. If Laura is near Peter then she should be able to survive. Even as children Peter's survival skills were unmatched.'
As Talia staggered her way to the stairs, she tried her best to ignore the corpses — They were already dead. She had to focus on the living, no matter how badly it made her feel.
She managed to rescue a few pack members, gathering them in un-lit areas the fires hadn't yet touched.
As she struggle down the stairs, the middle of it fell into an inferno, causing the alpha to leap over the pit of fire, landing on the first floor with barely a stumble.
She tried the front door, only find it locked — From the outside.
'Shit. Whoever's behind this had time to discreetly switch the lock?' Talia asked mentally, as she tried to make her way to the other end.
But the smoke and heat was suffocating — And, as she entered the kitchen a great explosion sent her flying into the wall, blackening her vision.
Meanwhile above, on the second floor, Derek did his best to navigate away from the flames — He even managed to rescue his little cousin, Sean, and his sister, Cora.
But the fire was catching, and Sean was barely keeping conscious. And, with Derek holding an unconscious Cora, if he passed out, Derek would likely be carrying even more weight, increasing his chances of death by inferno.
"Derek..." Sean coughed a fit. "Derek, I'm scared."
Derek pulled Sean up to his side, dragging his cousin as he struggled forward. "Don't worry, Sean. We're getting out of here. You, Cora, Me, Laura and Mother. We'll recover from this. I promise. We just have to get out of here."
But, as they turned a corner that led to the second pair of stairs, what met them was a wall of fire — A wall of fire that, in an angry inferno, shot directly their way.
As if by instinct, Derek covered Cora and Sean with his own body, as a searing hot pain shot throughout his back being the last thing he saw before he slumped forward, barely conscious.
"Derek!" Sean screamed, horrified and teary eyed.
Derek managed to stop his fall, keeping Cora in-hand, as he tried his best to ignore the pain, leaning on Sean as the trio tried their best to make their way back to their room, that was untouched by the flames.
They were trapped.
All the while, in the basement below the house, Laura Hale had managed to save a few lives — If only, temporarily.
She and Peter infiltrated 3 other packmates to the cellar, thinking of using its window to escape the fire.
Unfortunately, the window was newly barred, and the flames behind the cellar door was too close to even escape through.
They, too, were trapped.
And the fire was on spreading...
Outside the manor, by about a quarter of a mile, a girl in a coat ran through the preserve heading directly towards where smoke was rising in the short distance ahead.
Using teleportation, Madison appeared upon a tree branch overlooking the burning house.
"Looks like I'm already too late," Madison murmured, sensing that a majority of the Hale pack was already dead or dying. "I can't save everyone... But I can save those who still live."
Then, teleporting to the front door, Hazel used telekinesis to smash it to pieces, erecting a telekinetic air shield around her like a bubble, as she entered the inferno.
The first person she found was Thalia, unconscious but alive. She telekinetically moved her outside, before reaching out with her mind, pulling out Peter Hale, an unconscious Laura Hale, an unconscious Cora and Sean and, finally, a dazed, half-conscious Derek Hale.
Madison checked again for any living mind inside the burning house and, when she found none, she exited the house.
She took a look at the bodies around here, all of them laying in various states of unconsciousness and woundedness — Then she began running away.
She already heard the sirens in the distance and didn't feel like speaking to police about why she was there and how she — a 16 year old — could've possibly saved anyone from a fire before even first responders arrived.
Yeah, no. As a black person with a previous life to her name, Hazel was not doing that.
But, as she tensed to leave, someone grabbed her ankle, causing her breath to hitch as she looked to see who.
"T-thank you..." It was Derek. "Y-your name?"
Hazel took in his burnt back, contemplating what to say. Then, reaching down, she hovered her hands over his back, using her psionic abilities to temporarily boost his healing, healing the wound.
Derek let out an exuducious sigh.
"I am Madison," Madison said, causing Derek's eyes to widen, as he connected the dots. "We'll meet again one day, Hale. Until then, I'll see you around."
With that, Madison teleported away as the flashing lights were visible just beyond the first trees of the horizon. The only evidence of her presence being Derek's healed back and a shrieking owl who disappeared over the treeline…
Madison appeared back in her room, the scent of fire sunk deep in her clothes. She decided to bathe and change, hanging her clothes back inside the secret compartment in her closet.
"With this, the story should remain relatively the same — And, in case of anything unexpected happening, I will adapt to that, too," Madison said, as her Barn Owl hooted, perched to the window seal. "Hopefully, this time, Talia remains alive and Peter only takes another alpha's powers. I really like Talia."
"In any case, there's not much reason for me to stay up every night. Maybe I double down on my persona suppression? The longer I'm compressed inside Hazel, the more powerful I become, so maybe I'll stay unconscious until she hits her high school years? That is roughly 1-2 years after Season 1, I believe. And the plot must go on and all of that jazz... I could rear my head every few months to ensure cannon happens as well as I want it to... Yes, that sounds like a perfect plan."
"You truly intend to go away, friend?" little Mole stated, feathers ruffled.
"I have to," Hazel rubbed the Barn Owl's head affectionately. "But I'll be back... occasionally. You'll have to look after the other me most of the time. She doesn't yet understand. You'll have to protect her. Can you do that, my friend?"
"Of course," the owl preened. "Owls are good at protecting friends."
Madison genuinely smiled at that.
And, as the Sun began to rise, Madison got in bed, she knew this would be the last time for a while she herself would be awake, for Hazel would be taking over for the next few years.
She just hoped Hazel didn't mess anything up...