A/N: I had a lot of ideas for this chapter, but I've got them all sorted out lol. Huge hugs to those of you who reviewed! Here's Chapter 3!
Chapter Three: Unseen Passages, Unexpected Scares, and Unknown Feelings
Chloe P.O.V.
With trembling hands, I pushed aside a bookshelf within the hidden library, revealing the opening of the first secret passage leading off of the supernaturals' library. I took a deep breath, checked that I had the map, and flicked on the old flashlight that I had found in a desk drawer. I chuckled silently to myself as I took the first step inside, thinking about the last time I had used a flashlight—it had been with Rae, in the crawl space under the Lyle House, and she had very effectively illustrated an untraditional usage of cleavage as she snuck it from the kitchen. I briefly wondered how she was doing, then pushed the thought from my mind—now was not the time.
The air in the narrow corridor, which I assumed ran between the thick walls of the house, was—surprisingly—not stale, considering that it seemed to have been closed up for quite awhile, if the thick layers of dust coating the floor and walls were any indication.
Eventually, I came to a 90-degree fork in the tunnel. After consulting the worn map, I took the right-hand passage, because according to the map, it lead directly past Tori, Simon, Derek, and mine bedrooms, complete with secret openings into Derek's and mine. Maybe I could check if Derek was in his room; if he was, it would save me time searching this huge house for him, I rationalized.
Creeping forward as quietly as I could just in case he could hear me, I made my way down the corridor until I found the first peephole into one of the rooms. With a glance through the dusty vent that disguised it, I identified the room as Simon's; the drawings already scattered around the sparsely furnished room made it obvious who inhabited it.
The next two rooms were Tori's and mine. Like Simon's room, the peepholes into our rooms were hidden behind ventilation shafts. Using the map, I found the opening into my room. All of the bedrooms had paneling from the floor to just above waist height, and in my room, a whole section could be pulled out and slid in front of the rest, creating a large, square opening into the secret tunnel. After experimenting with it a few times, I moved on to the last room: Derek's.
I approached the now familiar vent, and with something like apprehension, I looked in.
The first thing I noted was that I had finally found Derek. He was leaning against the edge of his window, looking out over the grounds and toward the fog-enveloped forest. Though he was relaxed, his muscles were still quite obvious under his long-sleeved black t-shirt, which was tighter than the ones he usually wore—it was borrowed from Xavier, just as my clean jeans, white tank top, and charcoal hoodie were borrowed from Shiraz. His almost-dry hair was slightly tousled, as if he had run his hand through it several times. As I watched, he took a deep breath, and appeared to appreciate a scent that he had just caught, his eyes shutting as he almost smiled. I really hoped that he couldn't smell me, hiding behind his vent spying on him.
I felt slightly guilty for watching him, but I couldn't find it in myself to turn away. Somewhere, there was a sense of relief that I could finally look at Derek, really look at him for the first time since we left the Lyle House, without him or anyone else interrupting, or me getting self-conscious when he noticed. As I had noted earlier that morning, most of his acne had faded, leaving his skin unblemished over his strong jawbone and high cheekbones. His hands were large, and I could imagine their heat and slight roughness as I looked at him. Standing there, he didn't look like a normal 16 year old; he was too tall, his muscles too developed. He sighed, and I felt a pang of pity for him. I wished there was something I could do to ease some of the pressure from him; I knew how hard this was on him, with his partial Changes, and the looks that Andrew and some of the others couldn't seem to help giving him. I wanted to run into his room and wrap my arms around him and tell him that it would all be ok. It was irrational, I knew, but I wanted to protect him from the looks, the flashes of fear in the others' eyes that I knew were hurting him, even if he didn't let it on.
From somewhere in the house, I distantly heard Andrew's voice, calling for Derek and I. Derek sighed again, and walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him. I sighed as well, then turned and quickly jogged back to the secret library. Once there, I replaced the map and the flashlight on the desk, and moved the bookshelf back into place, so that it was impossible for anyone to tell that it had moved. I made a quick stop in one of the tiny bathrooms to wash the dust off of my hands, and headed to the kitchen.
"There you are, Chloe," Andrew said as I walked into the room. He, Vladimir, and Shiraz were clustered around one end of the kitchen table, and Derek was leaning against one of the counters, his expression unreadable. He looked at me and our eyes met, but I quickly looked away, fearing that he would somehow guess what I had been up to. I did, however, walk over and hop up on the counter next to him as Andrew continued.
"We've got a second list of essentials that we'll need to get in order to live here. The three of us have decided to go and get it all now; the sooner, the better—we don't know when something could happen, and we don't want to be caught without the necessary items for survival. You two are staying here; you'll be fine on your own. After all, you've made it this far on your own. " He said the last part with a smile.
"While we're gone, it would be a big help if you guys could move some of the spare furniture from the attic to the bedrooms that your group has chosen. They're a little under-furnished right now, and there are plenty of desks, dressers, and such that you can move into them in the attic, if you want," Shiraz told us as Andrew grabbed the keys to the second van, and she and Vladimir shrugged into their coats.
"Stay in the house, and stay safe," were Andrew's parting words as they walked out the door, which shut with a secure thud.
There was a moment of silence as we both stared after them, then Derek pushed away from the counter and turned to me.
"Ready to brave the attic, and get that furniture down to the rooms?"
"Sure," I said as I slipped off the counter. "Lead the way."
Derek P.O.V.
I lead the way up to the attic of the safehouse, Chloe closely following me. I opened a door at the end of a hallway on the third floor, revealing a flight of narrow, rickety stairs. I bounded up them 3 at a time, barely even noticing the extra stretch. At the top, I stopped and surveyed the attic. A healthy layer of dust covered everything. Dim light filtered in through two bay windows on either end of the room, providing just enough light for a normal person to see by. With my werewolf senses, I had no trouble seeing in pitch darkness, and the small amount of light coming through the windows was plenty enough for me.
"Wow, it looks like it's been awhile since anyone has been up here," Chloe said as she climbed up the last step and looked around. I grunted in agreement before making my way over to a large mass slightly off to our left. It was covered in a dusty white sheet, and had numerous corners and edges jutting out at various angles. Reaching up, I grabbed a handful of the material and gave it a swift tug, causing it to cascade off of the pile, which turned out to be a huge collection of furniture, jumbled haphazardly together.
Behind me, I heard Chloe sneeze violently in rapid succession, and was immediately enveloped in remorse.
"Sorry," I said, glancing at her over my shoulder.
She waved my apology away, saying, "Don't worry about it, Derek. I'm fine; it was just a little dust."
Not entirely convinced, I turned back to the heap of furniture, sizing it up.
"Why don't we start by separating all this, and then we can figure out what we want to move downstairs. This is too much for us to use all of it; we can just take what we want, and leave the rest up here," Chloe suggested as she approached the pile and started lifting out a bedside table.
"Sounds reasonable," I said as I went over to help her.
Within an hour, we had separated about half of the furnishings from the pile. The attic looked like an overcrowded furniture shop that badly needed to invest in a maid and some lighting.
Chloe stepped back to survey our accomplishments, her hands on her hips.
"Think we can start moving some stuff downstairs now?" she asked me.
I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I will start moving stuff downstairs. I don't think that you getting squished was on today's agenda. You can tell me what goes where."
I barely contained my laughter as she glared at me, her blue eyes narrowed and her lips set in a slight pout.
"Just because I'm not crazy strong doesn't mean that I can't help, you know," she informed me.
"All the same, in the spirit of no broken bones, you'll be directing," I told her. Before she could argue some more, I walked over and lifted a chest of drawers. "Where are we taking this one?"
Chloe rolled her eyes, but said, "Simon's room, I think. We'll let Tori have the vanity." She slipped down the attic stairs before me and held the door open. It was a tight fit, and my arm brushed against hers as I came through, sending a tingling up my arm that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I didn't understand my reaction, or why that little part of me was ecstatic, but I brushed it from my mind to ponder later.
Continuing in this manner, the two of us progressed quickly. Simon's and Tori's rooms were soon completely furnished. Mine would have been next, but I insisted that we do Chloe's next. She always put the rest of us before herself; I was determined to at least put her before myself. She had earned, and most definitely deserved, that much, and more. In true Chloe fashion, she chose the simplest items, and always checked that I hadn't wanted it in my room before she took it. It amazed me just how selfless she was, no matter the circumstance, no matter if she was being selfless for a nice guy like Simon or a monster like me.
Though I attempted to persuade her into moving a few more pieces into her room, she insisted that all she needed was a bedside table, an aged wooden desk, and a matching chair. I was able to talk her into a dresser with a mirror rising above it, but only after much convincing, and agreeing to move on to my room.
We had just moved a small bedside table and dresser into my room, and I was trying to figure out where they would fit best. Chloe was standing in the doorway, watching me. A silence had fallen between us, and while it wasn't uncomfortable, the stillness bothered me.
"Do we have any more desks upstairs?" I asked her as I shoved the bed over to make room for the bedside table, more to make conversation than anything else.
"I'm not sure. I'll run up and check ok?" Before I could protest and tell her that I was just wondering, she was gone. I mentally smacked myself for making more work for her, but continued to arrange the new furniture in my room.
I had just maneuvered the dresser into place against the half-paneled, half beige wall when I heard a distant groan, and the sound of something heavy slowly shifting, faintly grating. It seemed to be coming from somewhere above me, but I couldn't place just what it was, or what could be causing it. Then something clicked in my head, and I thought of all of the furniture balanced precariously in a jumble, and Chloe trying to find a desk…
Without a second thought, I sprinted out of my room and up two flights of stairs toward the attic. The wolf in me and the tiny part of me that enjoyed being around her so much were both shouting at me to get to her, to keep her safe. I was almost to the attic door when I heard a scream.
Chloe.
I reached the top of the stairs with just enough time to see a large wardrobe sliding sideways toward Chloe, who was trying to scramble out of the way.
It was falling faster now, gaining momentum, and she wasn't going to make it.
GO!!! a voice screamed in my head, drowning out all other thoughts.
In a flash, I had dashed in front of her, my back to the wardrobe and my hands braced on either side of her against the wall. The heavy wood crashed onto me less than a second later, and I grunted with the effort it took to hold it up. Using my unnatural strength, I heaved backwards and sent it in the opposite direction, where it landed with a reverberating thud.
As the echoes faded, I looked down at Chloe, both my human and wolf side frantic with worry.
"Are you ok?" I asked her, my voice low with anxiety.
"I-I'm f-f-fine," she managed to stutter, her eyes wide. I could smell the fear coming off of her, as well as the adrenaline. I quickly looked over her, searching for any injuries, but to my relief I found none.
"Thank God," I said, relaxing my still-tensed muscles, my shoulders sagging down. "What happened?"
"I-I was just t-trying to move one of the t-tables and something gave, and the wardrobe s-started f-falling, and I couldn't get out of the way…" she trailed off with a shudder, then looked up at me. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here, Derek…thank you."
Her voice was fervent, her eyes were burning into mine, and I could clearly see her gratitude. I opened my mouth to tell her how thankful I was that she was ok, but I suddenly couldn't remember what I was going to say. I realized just how close we were; I was still leaning over her protectively, an arm on either side of her, our faces mere inches apart. Her beautiful blue eyes were looking up at me, and she didn't look away when I met them with my green ones. I noticed things that I had never noticed before—how her eyelashes curled up at the ends, how her lips had a perfect double curve, how the half-healed scar under her eye added to her beauty instead of being a blemish upon it. I sensed a change in her breathing, and smelled a new scent coming from her—a sweet scent that washed over me in waves, intoxicating me.
Emotions rushed in a flood through me, and I was hot and cold, fearless and scared to death. I didn't know what I was feeling, what I was thinking, what I was doing. All I could see were her eyes, her endless, sparkling, amazing eyes, looking back into mine and making me feel things I'd never felt before.
I don't know how long we would have stared into each other's eyes, or what I would have done if it had continued for much longer. All too soon, however, I heard a car pull into the driveway, shortly followed by the sound of the front door opening.
"Derek! Chloe! We're home! Come help unload everything!" Trace shouted. I could hear the others' voices now, and I knew that we had to go.
I slowly dropped my arms to my sides, never looking away from her eyes.
"We should go," I murmured, my voice low and husky.
She nodded, her cheeks slightly flushed, and her breathing erratic as she held my gaze.
"I'll meet you down there," I said softly before turning and fleeing down the stairs, at a complete loss as to what had just occurred.