FAERILY ODD | Eli Hale

i. it began with cookies

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ELI HALE BARELY managed to suppress his groan the moment his toe made contact with the edge of his bedside table. An unhealthy string of curses powerfully poured out of his youthful mouth the same time a loud rumble of lightning struck a tree nearby in a dramatic manner. It was as if a burning feel of thunder reverberated up his body as his bottom made contact with the floor and his hands automatically cradled his dear foot which now glared angrily at him in agonizing pops of red.

The world seemed hellbent on making his life miserable as his day only consisted of a strong series of misfortunes.

His father, ever the noise-sensitive werewolf he was, could only grimace as his seven-year-old son released words he couldn't remember ever teaching him. He could only bite his lips as he grounded himself to avoid crossing the distance serving between him and the room of his spawn. It was safe to think that it was certainly not the perfect time to scold him about something as little as foul language when he could feel the intense sting of anger coming from him clouding his fatherly senses.

Minutes later and Eli's eyes never even fully opened from its slit as he glanced at his wall in fuming frustration.

Where it all went wrong, he didn't know. All he knew was that he had different plans that day rather than just isolating himself in his room but it seems like he wasn't even worthy enough to go through with his schedule.

Go outside and have an adventure? No, no, have some rain. Watch a film to at least cure his boredom? Ha! Have yourself an hour of blackout and stare at nothing. Attempt to snack on something while waiting for the electricity? Sorry, dad couldn't buy groceries because he forgot. Finally have the power back and maybe proceed to his movie marathon? Stub your toe.

And now he was too demotivated to even move from his bed where he pitifully glared at the wall. Maybe by then he could safely tuck himself away from more unfortunate events to happen . . .

Engk!

Oh how wrong he truly was.

Eli was sure he could even hear the heavens titter around and laugh amusingly at their doings. Like his life was some sort of entertainment and they were watching a reality show unravel into the part where it reached its peak suspense.

As he begrudgingly stood from his position and harshly slammed his door shut, his banging footsteps echoed around the halls of his home as he neared the source of his new vexation.

The annoying sound of ding dongs couldn't compare to the real annoyance he felt as his hands twisted the knob of their entrance. In fact, nothing could really make his nerves tingle more than the twisted face of the devil's incarnate grinning menacingly at him beyond the safety of the welcome doormat underneath his bare feet.

There was a bothering what if about if only Derek Hale could have reached the door sooner, then maybe something as otherworldly as the meeting of two fated souls could've been avoided.

But who was he when Eros, the cupid himself, had already allowed his divine arrow of gold to soar through the wind and tickle the air of emotions surrounding the innocent girl on the Hale doorstep. An invisible ribbon of crimson twirled flawlessly around her form and twisted itself inside the confines of her compassion, finding its target as it rushed forward and strung itself unknowingly to the clueless brunette who scowled at her in unspoken anger.

It was almost perfect.

Only, the graceful arrow failed to penetrate the barricade of its supposed end goal as a spiritual furry paw of a tiny wolf slapped it away like a small puppy playing with a stray stick. Cupid could merely gape in horror as his efforts directed itself off of the bull's-eye in the form of the boy's chest and instead spun rapidly towards the only vulnerable part it could see.

Eli Hale's foot.

The same foot that he had stubbed and still had a visible tint of pink.

And he, still dazed from the lingering touch of negativity, didn't take lightly the events that followed the recognition of her very existence.

Suddenly he was a witch that could curse every single object he could land his eyes on.

He was annoyed at the way her eyes looked at him. He was annoyed at the brightness of her smile even as braces lined her uneven teeth. He was annoyed at how untouched her braided pigtails looked and how dry her perky overalls were despite how the rain continued to pour heavily outside. He was annoyed at the sight of the cookies that were stacked deliciously on her flowery-designed tray. And he was annoyed at how her presence seemed so loud while still having a voice being as sweet as the pastry being devoured by his father.

He was specially annoyed that this was his new next-door neighbor.

With a mother seemingly disappearing here and there and a father always seen without a shirt, it wasn't long before the Petrovs received the expected judgement of society. It didn't help how their settlement screamed Cabin in the Woods with overgrown plants littering almost everywhere.

Somehow the bad omen brought by the past Hale torment seemed forgotten as a new victim of criticism came into town.

Eli couldn't even escape the noisy rambling of the girl as she situated herself in front of the two males, a dreamy glint in her doe eyes as she spoke and spoke and spoke. It was an endless lace of nonsense that the boy couldn't fully comprehend, as if she was speaking a language totally different from their own. But he knew she wasn't, and that she was still using english. He was just clueless about what she was going on about and how it surprisingly took the attention of his father. He could only catch a few words like 'prototype', 'more volts to power', and 'connecting wires without testers' before he just shrugged her off and got lost in his own little world.

It was a good thing too.

Because if only he had listened, then he would have known that it was the girl who had caused the massive blackout by tinkering something she shouldn't have inside their garage.

She was, after all, someone who had wonder and much curiosity. A person who didn't limit herself to what already existed and tried creating the future with her too young hands.

Yet Eli was also envious.

The girl had talked more to his dad about unimportant matters than he had ever in his entire life. Even more so that he hasn't been the same since the man had shown his true self and scared away not only the coyotes that deviously wanted to attack him that day but also himself. The mental image still brought shivers up his spine.

As the hours progressed, he could sense her eyes peeking at him from time to time and how she has numerously attempted to talk to him. All of which he ignored with a roll of his eyes.

He was passive-aggressive and she was, coming from him, weirdly obsessive.

Eli Hale now believed his day actually went worse than what he initially thought.

And he couldn't decide what he hated more.

The way his father smiled a ton about whatever bull she was spilling.

Or the sight of Ilyarra Petrov and her goddamned tray of cookies.