The snow had already started to settle on the ground, covering up anyway Derek could track his sisters. Though, he was pretty sure their tracks could've been gone within a few days of them leaving.
Derek was also pretty sure he's just been wandering around for hours aimlessly within the trees. Soon it'd be too dark to see and he'd have to spend the night out in the snow.
Laura would hit him for being so stupid.
He just went off with only his jacket, no food, no water. He even left his book at home.
Derek huffed at himself, watching the air in front of him turn into a white puff before walking through it as it dissipated.
He wished he thought of asking Laura for a second map. If he had been smart enough he would have. Maybe even had went to Finnstock for one before leaving if he used his brain right.
"Laura! Cora!" His voice echoes throughout the trees but nothing answers him back.
He shoved his hands into the crooks of his arms and let out another huff, becoming more irritated was better than worrying himself into an early grave.
Why couldn't he have just gone with them? Have Finnstock look over the house once in a while to make sure things were still in order (even though Derek was sure he'd just make the house a complete mess but Laura and Cora do just fine of doing that themselves), made sure nobody robbed them, and start the fireplace once in a while so that the cottage would stay warm. That would have been a great idea. He could have gone with Laura and Cora, see them win, enjoy a family experience with them, and come all the way back home together so they wouldn't ever have been apart and he wouldn't be stuck here wandering-
Derek hissed when his boot caught onto something and looked down to see a broken wheel had snared his foot.
Derek frowned, stepping on the wheel with the toe of his other boot before yanking his foot free and looked up to see a wreck wooden carriage not far from him.
And not far behind that was a gate.
Could Laura and Cora have found this too?
Derek made his way past the carriage and up to the gate, a large shadow loomed just a little off in the distance and he was sure he was going to regret this as soon as he did it but… He took in a deep breath and wrapped two hands around it's cold iron bars and pushed. It gave a long, loud creek in protest as he pushed it open. Taking a few steps forward as he gazed up at the silhouette and realized what it was.
The abandoned castle.
Could Laura and Cora have found this place and went in it to hide from the cold?
Derek possibly stared at the castle longer than he needed to before finally gathering his wits and moving toward it.
Stiles woke with a jolt, blinking at the strange voice filling the foyer.
"Laura? Cora?"
Stiles rubbed at his eyes with his wax candles, hopping off of the side table he was on and made his way to the door of the castle as fast as he could. Once again he heard the unfamiliar voice call out in a rough whisper.
"Laura! Cora!"
Stiles rounds the corner and sees it- well him. A tall man in a black coat with his arms around his chest as if that alone would protect him from the cold. He sounded desperate whoever this man was which meant that he probably wouldn't be staying long if he didn't find what he came looking for.
Stiles hobbles back the same way he came in hopes of finding Scott in his study. He didn't want to make the long travel all the way up the stairs and down however many hallways to Scott's room.
This could be their chance to break the curse.
Luckily enough Stiles does find him in the study.
"Scott!?" Stiles was breathless by the time he pushed the door open, finding his friend standing still before the fire. No doubt watching the flames and listening to the crackle of wood. Scott had a knack for doing that these days. To get his mind off things.
Stiles hobbled forward, moving around the small table, "Scott, someone's here-"
"I know," Scott cut off, his voice sounding strangled and gruff.
Stiles paused, taking time to actually look over his friend. Scott's hands were balled up, nearly shaking with the force of it. His back tense and shoulders coming up and down too fast.
"Wowa, buddy," Stiles shimmied forward to stand a few feet from Scott, "Come on, look at me, Scott."
Scott turned slightly to face Stiles, not willing to move too much, afraid he might take off towards the stranger in his home. The voice echoing through his halls, a heartbeat other than his own filling up his ears, his scent- a mix of emotions, among them fear, longing, stress- made his nostrils flare and breathing come in even faster.
"Scott!" Scott blinked down at his friend, too wide eyes finally focusing on him.
"Scott, breathe," Stiles said, trying to instruct how to do so with his own body, but was rather hard to show considering he was a candle stick. But Scott followed along to the in and out motion of Stiles' 'arms', forcing himself to follow the pattern and tried not to focus too much on how his breath hitched when the voice grew louder. "There you go, just listen to me. He's not a threat, Scotty. He's looking for people, can't you hear the names he's saying?"
Scott gave a shaky nod.
"Right, doesn't sound like anybody from here, so he's not looking for us. Not a threat right?" Stiles asked.
Scott bit down on his lip, fighting the ache in his hands that meant his claws wanted to come out.
Stiles held his candle holders up in a defensive position that looked a lot like someone trying to surrender, "What does he smell like?"
"Fear," Scott gasped, "longing, like the snow from outside-"
Stiles cut him off before he could really focus on the stranger, "Alright so, maybe he's afraid of not finding the people here's looking for here. Maybe he's scared that they're lost just like he might be and that's why he's here and smells like the snow from outside. Might even be afraid that there's nothing here but him."
Scott nodded quickly, willing himself to believe that and calm down the monster inside of him. He forced himself to keep breathing evenly, and shut his eyes to block everything out. Listening to the fire crackle and letting it fill up his ears to make all the other noises melt away.
Scott felt himself relax the longer he listened to the fire. Slowly opened his eyes to find Stiles smiling up at him, "Told you you were getting better at this."
Scott snorted, still feeling just a little shaky, "I haven't had another real person in here in years, Stiles. What do I do? Let him wander until he leaves? Until he finds me? I-I don't know if I can handle being in the same room as him."
"Pick me up." Was all Stiles said.
Scott furrowed his brows, frowning, "What?" Stiles hated being picked up like he was an object.
"Just pick me up so I can look you in the eyes," Stiles huffed. Scott obliged and bent down to pick Stiles up and hold him firmly in his hand, looking at Stiles expectantly.
"What if him being the first person here in years was meant to happen, Scott? What if he's the one that can break the curse-"
"I haven't even seen him yet, Stiles, and I'm not going to oppress that on some stranger. I don't even know how to control it around other people!" Scott hissed.
"You don't have to! Remember how you learned to control it with just us? Should be no different." Scott shook his head but Stiles marched on, "It isn't. He might be your only chance, Scott. Our only chance," Scott bit his lip at the mention of everyone else who had been affected by the curse, "Isn't that worth a shot?"
"Stiles, I- What would I do? Offer him a place to stay for a while? Wouldn't he want to leave if he's looking for someone?"
"Yes, do exactly that. And I wouldn't want to leave with the weather as it is."
"Stiles, it's not that simple-"
"Yes, it is, Scott. Just take me out there with you and hold me away from your face if you think it'll come out and if not he can see you're just a cute prince and that just might convince him to stay." Stiles wiggled his eyebrows, or at least what Scott thought was the equivalent of eyebrows for a candle stick.
Scott cracked an uneasy smile, letting out a small huff, "Okay."
"Great," Scott barely pulled Stiles away in time for him to light up his own candles by simply blowing on them and grinned up at Scott.
"I still don't understand how you're able to do that."
"Me neither!" Stiles chirped, holding his arms up high as Scott left the room to find the stranger.
Derek swallowed, eyes burning at the quiet that only seemed to answer him. He was used to being alone, but he was used to it with them. Laura's laugh and Cora's small snorts and their clattering about all over the cottage.
He wanted to hear Laura call him her petit frère and have Cora tease him about his book and hear their calming breaths as they sleep. Wanted to wake up to Laura's soft eyes looking at him and ruffling his hair before tickling Cora awake and run out into the snow just like they did last year. Cora loved the snow.
Derek swallowed again, wiping at his eyes, "Laura? Cora?" He asked softly, slumping back against a wall and letting himself slide down it to the floor, "Où êtes-tu?"
A throat cleared nearby and Derek nearly jumped out of his skin, ready to berate his sisters for taking so long to answer but closed his mouth as soon as he saw it was a man holding a candle.
"Uh, h-hello?"
Derek blinked at the voice, wiping at his nose before standing up to face the stranger, squinting when he couldn't quite make out his face.
"Are you lost?" The man asked again, voice softer this time. Calmer, less timid than before.
Derek nodded, then answered, "Yes," since he wasn't sure the man could quite see him either.
There was a long pause. Derek watched the man's hand tighten and loosen on the candlestick almost as a second thought. It nearly sounded like the man was trying to regulate his breathing.
"How did you end up here?" Came at last.
"I'm looking for my sisters." Derek replied, and continued on at the expectant silence, "They're inventors and they went to this fair and said they'd be back two days ago. I couldn't wait any longer so I went looking for them…" He trailed off, glancing around them for a moment before he looked back at the man, "Has anybody else been here?" He asked, too afraid to raise his voice any higher than a whisper in fear of the answer.
Another pause and then, "No. It's just me here. And no one by the names of 'Laura and Cora' have ever been in this castle." The man answered soberly.
Derek's chest tightened and the threat of tears came all over again. He was wrong. He got lost and Laura and Cora are still out there possibly sick or freezing to death and he was stupid enough to leave home instead of waiting for them- "I have to leave." Derek wheezed out and was about to turn when a hand on his wrist stopped him.
"Wait," The man, close enough now that his features shown in the candlelight, had dark brown eyes, a crooked jaw, and curls that hid his forehead. His voice conveying the worry on his face, "You can't leave. The weather is getting worse and you'll get caught in the storm if you leave now."
Derek glanced at the man's hand on his wrist and he suddenly let go of it as if it burned him.
"Your sisters," The stranger started again, "they probably stayed at the fair for shelter if they noticed the storm was coming too. They don't need you getting caught out there yourself or getting hurt. Nor, do they need you to worry about them like you are. You'll worry yourself sick acting like this."
Derek furrowed his brows and glanced back at the way he came, pondering over whether staying was truly a good idea, "What if they are out there?"
"Then they'll need you to be healthy and strong and not go into panic." The man answered firmly, looking at Derek as if he was sure of what he said, "I have a spare room that you can stay in for the time being. Just until the storm blows over? I think we have clothes that'll fit you for the time being. It looks like you're about the same height as my friend Stiles. Just a little wider than he is."
There was a peep from something close by and the man's hand closed tighter around the candlestick. Derek lifted an eyebrow but all the man gave him in return was a warm smile.
"I didn't think anybody was here." Derek said dumbly.
"Oh, there's plenty of people here," The man's smile seemed to grow bigger and sheepish at the same time, "We're just not used to visitors."
Derek stared at the vast empty space in the bed beside him. The utter quietness of the castle made the absence of the missing bodies that were supposed to be in the blankets with him even more evident.
The man had said that this place was full of people, the way he spoke made the castle seem like it was overflowing with them.
But if that was true, wouldn't he have heard someone by now? Or even had seen the person who's bedroom he was in? The man said it was his friend's and that he wouldn't mind if Derek had spent the night in his bed.
And besides from the odd pepping that happened every so often while the man showed him to the room, there was not another soul in sight.
Just the lone man who was named Scott.
Scott, who apparently lives in this abandoned castle with many non-existent people.
That or they're the most non-nosy people he'd ever heard of.
Derek sighed and pulled back the covers so he could get out of bed, he was getting no where trying to sleep.
Out in the hall is was eerily quiet. Every little noise seemed to jump right back at him and he made an effort to walk on the balls of his feet. He passed door after door on his way back to the staircase and couldn't believe he hadn't noticed just how many there were. Scott was going to have to show him where his room was again after this.
It was probably silly of him to be wandering around like he was, seeking out a stranger's company. But it felt better to be around Scott. It wasn't as lonely in his presence. Which was odd since him and his sisters were known for keeping to themselves. But even they had each other to keep themselves company, and spending more than a week without him made him want to be around someone. Scott was comfortable enough to take their place for now.
It didn't take as long as he thought to find the staircase that led downstairs into the foyer. Derek just couldn't remember which hall he had went down before so it took him quite a bit of wandering around until he finally stumbled upon a hallway filled with Scott's soothing voice. And… someone else's?
Derek furrowed his brows, slowing down his pace as he approached the ajar door to catch what they were saying.
"-you handled it pretty well, Scott! You didn't let it come out at all!" Came the new voice.
Let what out?
Derek pushed the door open more and found Scott talking to- a candle stick? All of his attention was focused on it and it was moving all on it's own. And right when he was questioning his sanity or wondering if this was one of those weird dreams Cora gets, Scott answered back.
"That's because he was about to have a panic attack and I've handled enough of those with you to know what to do. What if he gets angry and I won't be able to hold it back? He'll see me-"
"Scott?" Derek called out.
Scott jerked as if he'd been hit, looking up at Derek with wide, bright red eyes- looking exactly like a monster straight out of those storybooks they use to teach lessons. Sharp claws dropped and fangs stretched past his lips as Scott's face morphed into something creature like.
Derek couldn't breathe, couldn't formulate words in his mind when Scott stepped forward, reached out to him-
Derek turned and ran out of the room, a strangled howl following him out of the castle.
He paused mid run when he heard a growl, stumbled over his feet and almost slammed into a tree for his effort.
Derek turned and came to face a wolf, its teeth bared with a low rumbling growl that resonated from its throat, slowly making his way toward him. Derek locked eyes with it and made sure not to look away, tried not to somehow move in a way that showed submission.
Or he's dead.
Another wolf came forward, it seemed more vicious than the first as it snarled and Derek chanced looking at it quickly, seeing about two more in the shadows behind it before he decided to just stay focused on the first one. He tried to take one slow step off to the side so he wouldn't back into the tree behind him. But as soon as he put his heel down a warning growl kept him frozen in his spot.
Wrong move.
The second one launched itself at him and Derek stumbled back against the tree right when something jumped in front of him. The wolf was knocked back, a whine escaped its mouth as its body hit the ground. The other two that were in the shadows came forward to snarl at Derek's savoir.
The man roared in response, silencing the wolves for a moment and-
"...Scott?" He asked, so quiet in fear of sparking another attack.
"Run, Derek." Came the calm response. It's only when he doesn't move, too scared of leaving and not knowing what would happen, that Scott raises his voice and tells him, "Go!"
That's when the first wolf striked, it leaped up as if to catch Scott's neck between his teeth but Scott blocked it with his arm and growled when the wolf bit into it instead. Derek heard the fabric tear as Scott threw the wolf back but the snarling increased from there and he was only able to catch whines and cries of pain from the wolves. He was only able to sit back and watch the animals attack Scott as he fought them off. His clothes were hanging off his body by the time he threw one of the wolves into a tree and watched it crumple to the ground. That seemed to be enough to spark enough fear to ward off the remaining wolves. They ran off and left Scott there. with his claws still out, he turned to Derek, looking at him dazedly before his knees buckled and he fell into the snow himself.
Derek almost turned on his heel and ran, pausing for a moment to really look at the man who just saved him. He watched blood ooze out into the snow surrounding him and the light wind blow what scraps of his shirt that was left over his skin. If Derek left him out here he'd freeze to death.
Derek moved forward to gently bend down beside Scott and scooped him up into his arms as carefully as he could. Holding him close in hopes that sharing body heat would help him hold on a little while longer. Just long enough for him to get back to the castle.
