Season of the Witch
Chapter Seven/What The Hell?
Wren let out a sigh as she came out of English. She had gotten her last report back from Mr Stewart. A bright red D- was displayed on the front, along with the words 'Not good enough. I'll be seeing you at the conference'. She tried to do the best she could but clearly that didn't work out. English was hard. Isaac appeared at her side and greeted her, saying "Hey. What did you get?" He asked.
She showed him the report, making him wince sympathetically. "Yeah, I know. It's shit." She said.
"Well, it's not too bad. You could have gotten an F." He said, making her shrug.
"What did you get?" She asked.
"A minus." He replied.
"That's awesome." She replied, making him look down and blush. She couldn't help but smile at the sight.
"You know." He said uncertainly. "I could help you with English, if you want."
"Like a tutor?" She asked.
"Yeah." He replied. "You don't have to if you don't want to!" He quickly added.
"No, no, I do!" She said. "That would be amazing, thank you so much!"
He blushed again but smiled. "No problem. Just text me whatever time you're free." He said.
"I will, I will." She said, before the bell rang to signal the next class. "I have to go, but again, thank you so much."
Isaac smiled. "No problem. I like your top, by the way!" He called after her. She looked down and saw that she was wearing a tank top that displayed the Joker on the front, making her grin. She walked to class with a smile on her face, unable to get rid of it. Until she turned the corner and saw Derek Hale corner Jackson at his locker. She hadn't seen Derek since they got him arrested.
"Where's Scott McCall?" He asked. That definitely gave Wren a reason to hide. She couldn't help but frown at the sight of Derek though. He looked ill, almost like he was dying. Why should she care though?
"Why should I tell you?" Jackson asked, he wasn't afraid at all.
"Because I asked you nicely and I only do that once." He replied.
"Hm, okay tough guy, how about I help you find him if you tell me what you're selling him?" Jackson asked. If there wasn't so much tension, Wren would have let out a snort. Jackson though Scott was on drugs? That was hilarious! Jackson continued. "What is it? Is it Dianabol? HGH?
Derek paused, before let out a laugh. "Steroids."
What did you think he was talking about?
It seemed Jackson was thinking the same thing. "No, girl scout cookies. What the hell do you think I'm talking about? Oh, and uh, by the way, whatever it is you're selling, you probably should stop sampling the merchandise. You look wrecked."
Derek paused again. "I'll find him myself." He said, before walking around Jackson.
"Hey, no, we're not done here." Jackson snapped, grabbing Derek's shoulder. Derek whipped around and slammed Jackson into the locker, making Wren spring out from her hiding spot. Hey, she may not like Jackson but she didn't want to see him get murdered.
"Hey, leave him alone!" She snapped, shoving Derek's shoulder. He stepped back slightly, before looking over at Wren. His eyes narrowed.
"I was just leaving." He replied, before walking off. Wren considered going after him, but hearing Jackson groan in pain made her turn back.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
Jackson pulled his hand away from the bag of his neck, showing her his blood stained fingers. "What the hell?" He muttered.
She spun him around to see the back of his neck. Four bloody cuts were on the back of his neck, making her eyebrows rise. "What the hell?" She repeated.
Jackson turned and swatted her hands away. "Just leave it, okay?" He said. "I can handle it."
Wren raised her eyebrows and watched Jackson, with a frown on her face, as he picked up his stuff and walked away. "Nice talking to you, Jackson!" She called down the hall to him. Dickhead. With one final look over her shoulder to see if Derek was there- he wasn't- she walked off, seeing Lydia and Allison at the end of the hallway. "Hey, what are we talking about?" She asked.
"Scott's going over to Allison's tonight." Lydia told her, making Wren waggle her eyebrows in Allison's direction. The girl turned pink.
"Oh, ho, ho, ho." She said, giving Allison a grin.
"It's just studying!" She insisted.
"Just studying never ends with just studying. It's like getting into a hot tub, somebody eventually cops a feel." Lydia replied, using a matter of fact tone.
"Which is why I never get into your hot tub at parties." Wren added.
"It's also why Jason Conners never goes near you." She said.
"Dick deserved it." Wren replied.
"He really did." Lydia added.
"But that's not what you said to Wren when she studied with Isaac." Allison noted.
"But I wasn't studying with my boyfriend." Wren said, giving Allison a smirk.
"Besides, Wren has far better taste." Lydia added.
Wren slapped her arm. "Don't be mean, Isaac's a really nice guy." She said.
"Ugh, fine." Lydia replied.
"But were you guys saying before?" Allison asked, changing the subject as the group climbed the stairs.
"I'm just saying you should cover yourself up." Lydia replied. Allison frowned.
"She means use protection." Wren added.
"After one date?!" Allison exclaimed.
"Don't be total prude." Lydia said.
"You don't have to go all out though." Wren added. "Maybe like a boob grab or something and oh my god, I just realised that we are talking about my cousin and now I want to jump out a window." Wren groaned. She really didn't expect to be having this conversation.
"Like Wren said, just give him a little taste." Lydia added, ignoring the rest of Wren's sentence.
"How much a little?" Allison asked uncertainly.
"Oh god." Lydia said. "You really like him, don't you?"
"That's adorable." Wren added.
Allison narrowed her eyes at them both. "Well-I-Just-He's different." She said. "When I first moved here I had a plan: no boyfriends until college, I just moved too much. But then I met him and he's just different."
"That's adorable." Wren repeated. "I may vomit start vomiting rainbows."
"Shut up." Allison said, playfully hitting Wren's arm. "I can't explain it."
"I can." Lydia replied. "It's your brain filling with phenylethylamine."
Allison paused, taking a minute to take in the information. "What?"
"Lydia Martin: smartest girl in the school." Wren added, unable to help the smile coming across her face.
"How did you even- How did she?" Allison asked Wren, still surprised.
"Beats me." Wren replied, giving her a shrug.
"Can we get back to the important matters at hand please?" Lydia said. "I know what you can do. When's he coming over?"
"Right after school." Allison said, just as the bell rang to signal the end of the day, thank God.
"Then you should change into something a little more comfortable." Lydia said, giving him a smirk. "Though not too comfortable. Don't just start in your underwear, work done to it." She added, making Allison blush.
"I can't believe we are actually having this conversation." Wren muttered.
"Neither can I." Allison said.
"Also tease him a little, make him work for it. If he makes a move, then you back off." Lydia added.
"No, don't do that." Wren interrupted, making Lydia raise her eyebrows.
"And why not?" Lydia asked. "I think I know a little about what to do."
"And I think I know my cousin better than you do, Lydia." Wren replied, before turning to Allison as they walked into the parking lot. "He is shy and nervous when it comes to girls he likes." Allison smiled slightly, a faint blush coming across her cheeks. "It is more likely that you will be making the first move."
"Are you sure?" Allison asked uncertainly.
"Pretty sure." Wren replied. "It took him like a year and a half to ask out his first girlfriend."
"If you're sure." Allison replied. They walked down the steps, Lydia's eye being caught by Jackson standing across the parking lot.
"I'll see you two tomorrow." Lydia said. "Good luck and text me to let me know how it goes!"
"Are you sure you can't come tonight?" Allison asked. Her father had gotten Allison to invite the pair to dinner that night.
"Yeah, sorry. My dad is coming for dinner tonight and he's bringing the step-monster." Lydia replied, looking annoyed.
"Good luck with that, by the way." Wren added. She didn't like Lydia's father because he had only paid attention to whatever Lydia did wrong and expected her to be this mess of a girl, he never paid attention to her awards or her amazing grades. "How did your mom react?"
"She's pissed, but she's trying to be polite." Lydia replied.
"Good luck." Wren repeated. "Call me if you need to."
"Will do." Lydia replied, before giving a wave to the girls. They waved back, before Lydia turned and walked over to Jackson, who was standing by the Porsche, still kind of looking… paranoid. Wren watched him with a slight frown on her face, before turning back to Allison.
"Are you still coming tonight?" Allison asked her. "I'm sorry about this by the way. My parents like to get to know my friends."
"Yeah. Hey, it's fine." Wren replied. "But can you and Scott please be done by the time I arrive? I don't want to walk in on a private moment, that would give me nightmares for months."
Allison snorted. "I'll try my best."
"That's all I ask." Wren replied as the pair walked to their cars.
"My Aunt Kate arrived last night." Allison said with a grin. "I think you would like her. She's really badass and got this sarcastic sense of humour, it kind of reminds me of you."
"Is that a good thing?" Wren asked.
"Well, my dad might not think so." Allison said, making Wren laugh as they walked towards their cars. The girls looked over when they heard someone beep their horn continuously. Wren frowned when she saw Derek standing to front of Stiles' Jeep, hand out to stop it. She looked down to see Scott trying to subtly, yet frantically, wave her over without getting Allison's attention.
It didn't work.
"What's the matter with Scott?" Allison asked, looking over at the boy with a raised eyebrow. Scott promptly dropped his hand and gave her a sheepish smile, her cheeks turning pink.
"I don't know." Wren trailed off, before realising that she should really get over to Scott. "Um, I'll see you tonight, yeah?"
"Yeah, sure." Allison said. Before she had even finished her sentence, Wren had rushed off after Scott to see what was going on. Well, tottered in her high heels.
"I'm heard him earlier, he was looking for you." She told Scott as they rushed over to Derek.
"Why was he looking for me?!" Scott asked.
"How should I know?" Wren hissed, just as Scott crouched down beside Derek.
"I was shot." Derek said, though he barely managed to speak through what sounded like pain.
"He's not looking so good dude." Stiles commented.
"Well shit, people don't look so good when they've been shot? I didn't realise!" Wren replied sarcastically.
Stiles gaped at her. "I was just making an observation! There's no need to be a bitch!"
"Well, when you're making stupid-"
"Guys!" Scott hissed. "Not the time!" He turned back to Derek. "Why aren't you healing?"
"I can't." He gasped out. "It was...a different…kind of bullet."
"Like a silver bullet?" Stiles exclaimed excitedly. He must have been looking forward to using his knowledge of werewolf trivia.
Unfortunately, Derek thought otherwise.
"No, you idiot!" He snapped. Wren patted Stiles' arm in fake sympathy, making him swat her hand away.
"This what she meant when she said you had forty-eight hours!" Scott exclaimed.
Stiles and Wren exchanged a confused glance. "What?" Wren said.
"Who- Who said forty-eight hours?" Derek asked.
"The woman who shot you." Scott said, like it was obvious. Derek winced and grunted in pain, squeezing his eyes shut. When he opened them again, they were a bright, glowing blue. Did werewolves have different coloured eyes apart from yellow? Man, she needed to take some pointers from Stiles and brush up on her werewolf lore.
….
Did she really just think that? My life has gotten weird.
"What are you doing!" Scott snapping, pulling Wren from her thoughts. "Stop that!"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, I can't." Derek hissed as the sound of the car horns increased.
"Derek, get up!" Scott snapped. Derek growled in reply.
Wren looked over her shoulder, frowning when she took in the traffic they had caused. "Guys, we're causing a line, we need to get him out of here." She advised.
"Yeah." Scott replied, getting to his feet. "Help me put him in Stiles' car." He pulled Derek up under his arms, pulling one arm of his shoulder while Wren pulled the other over her shoulder. They pulled Derek into the car, the older werewolf grunting as he fell into the front seat.
Scott and Derek spoke for a moment, before her eye was caught by a familiar figure getting out of her car. "Hey, hey, hey, Allison's coming over." She told him, slapping the boy's arm.
"Crap." Scott muttered, before turning to back to Derek. "I'll try. Get him out of here." He told Stiles.
"I hate you for this so much." Stiles said, before driving off.
"I'll follow them." She told Scott. "Just get to Allison's."
"You sure?" He asked. She nodded and he went off, before Wren went over to her and climbed into it. She drove through the streets, following the path Stiles' car took and eventually getting behind it. Okay, there was no way in hell she was going to get to Allison's tonight if she had to help a dying werewolf, who just so happened to be her mother's godson.
Wait, hold on a minute.
Godson, exactly! Her mom could help with this. Well, hopefully. She knew about the werewolves, right? That also begged the question on whether she would actually help or not. She made it pretty clear to her dad that she didn't want to be involved. But that would change if Derek was dying, right?
There was no time to think it over as Stiles had pulled over. She followed, parking behind them and climbing out. She tottered slightly. Man, these heels weren't good to run around in. She rushed over to the side of the car and stood at the window. "What happened?" She asked.
"He doesn't want us to take him to his house!" Stiles exclaimed, clearly exasperated. "Where else can we take you?"
"I don't care." Derek grumbled. "You just can't take me to my house."
"Great!" Stiles exclaimed. "And what happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Huh? Are you dying?"
"Not yet." Derek replied. "I have a last resort."
"What do you mean last resort?" Stiles exclaimed, before Derek pulled up his shirt sleeve to reveal a bullet wound which smelled really fucking awful. Wren retched at the smell. "Oh my god, what is that? Is that contagious? You should probably just get out."
"Start the car." Derek growled.
"And go where?" Wren exclaimed. "To my mother? You are her godson." She blurted out, groaning internally. She didn't want to mention that.
"Wait what!" Stiles shrieked, while Derek just stared at her.
"How do you know that?" He asked, staring at her. Stiles was still shrieking about in the background, but Wren wasn't paying attention to him.
"I heard." She replied. "But why did she never tell me about you?" He didn't reply, just clenched his jaw and turned away. "Why does she not want to be involved in this stuff?"
"That's not my place to tell." He replied.
She scowled at him, getting frustrated. She wanted to know and she wanted to know now. "Why did I not know you were her godson?" She asked. "Do you know why she doesn't want to get involved?"
"It's not my place to tell." Derek emphasised.
"Why can't I know?" She exclaimed. "She's my mother!"
"Stop acting like a stroppy child!" Derek exclaimed, now the frustrated one. Wren recoiled like she had been slapped. "It's not my place to tell you, now start the damn car!"
Wren scowled as Stiles started to speak again, pointing at Derek. "Okay, you shouldn't be barking orders." He pointed at Wren. "And why the fuck didn't you tell us this earlier?!" She glared fiercely at Stiles, making him drop his hand. "Okay, we'll talk about this later." He turned back to Derek. "You! You shouldn't be giving orders because I think I could just take your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead."
If Wren wasn't so pissed off, she might have been impressed.
"Start the car or I'm going to rip your throat out." Derek said, before adding "With my teeth."
Wren glared at him, before letting out a mocking laugh. "Sweetheart, I'm pretty sure that if I slapped you right now that would probably nearly kill you. I don't think you could hurt Stiles, as much as you wanted to."
"Yeah." Stiles agreed, though sounding slightly terrified.
Derek scowled. "Just start the car."
Wren sighed. "Just bring him to the woods or something." She said, before walking back to her car. Stiles started it and drove off. Wren started the car and followed closely, Panic! At The Disco blasting through the speakers.
After nearly an hour of driving up and down roads and weaving through the streets, which probably used up most of the gas in the tank which had just filled three days ago for god's sake, Wren pulled over, remembering that she still had to cancel her plans with Allison. She switched off her music, pulled out her phone and called the girl. "Hey, what's up?" Allison answered.
"hey, I'm really sorry about this, but I don't think I can make it tonight." Wren exclaimed.
"What? Why?" Allison asked, sounding annoyed.
"Something came up and I just don't think I have time to come tonight. I'm really sorry about this, but I can come over another time." She explained.
"Right, okay." Allison said, sounding disappointed.
"I'm sorry." Wren added.
"No, no, it's fine." She replied.
"Who's that?" She heard Scott ask in the background.
"It's Wren, she says she can't come for dinner tonight." Allison explained.
"Can I talk to her for like two minutes?" Scott asked. "Just about some family stuff."
"Uh, sure." Allison said. "Hold on a second, Scott wants to talk to you."
"Hey." Scott said after being handed the phone.
"What's wrong?" Wren asked.
"Two seconds." Scott said. "Sorry, can I talk to Wren in your room?" He asked to Allison.
"Yeah sure." She replied, before there was a long moment of silence as Scott went to her room. The door shut behind him before he asked "How's Derek?"
"He smells."
"Informative." Scott deadpanned.
"He's not good, he really needs that bullet." She replied.
"Yeah, that's I wanted to talk to you about." Scott said. "You know the woman who shot Derek last night? It's Allison's aunt, Kate."
"Are you shitting me?" She asked. "Are the entire fucking family werewolf hunters?"
"Apparently." He said. "But that's why I need you need to come tonight. They invited me to the family dinner and I need you to come here and help me find it."
"And you also don't want to face your girlfriend's terrifying family by yourself?" She asked.
"That too." He replied.
"Fine." She said. "Do you want me to come now?"
"Please." He said.
"I'll be there in a couple of minutes." She said.
"You are the best cousin ever." He said.
"I better be getting all the candy Grandma sends you at Christmas." She replied.
"Even the cookies?" Scott whined.
"Especially the cookies." She replied.
"Fine." He sighed. "See you later."
Scott hung up and this time she called Stiles. "Hey, got some news for ya." She said. "The woman who shot Derek is Allison's aunt: Kate."
"Great, fucking fantastic." Stiles muttered.
"I'm going to Allison's house to help Scott find the bullet." She replied.
"What! No, you can't leave me alone with him!" Stiles exclaimed.
"I'm right here." Derek growled in the background.
"Wrenny!" Stiles whined, ignoring Derek.
"I'm sorry, but he needs all the help he can get finding that bullet. He's been invited to the family dinner too." She said.
"So basically he's been thrown into the lion's den?" Stiles said.
"Pretty much." Wren replied.
"Great." Stiles said.
"If it helps, I'll give you some of the candy that my Grandma sends at Christmas." She said. "Scott's giving me his.
"Even the cookies?" Stiles asked, perking up slightly.
"Yep." She said.
"It kind of helps." He replied. "I'll talk to you later then?"
"Yep." She replied, before hanging up and starting the drive to Allison's house. She eventually pulled up in front of the house, turning off her engine and checking her hair in the mirror. After reapplying her lipstick, fixing her hair and pulling on her leather jacket, Wren climbed out of the car and went towards the house.
That was when fear began to creep up her spine. Was she sure she wanted to walk into the house of the family who wanted to kill her cousin? Suck it up.
She clenched her jaw and rang the doorbell. The door opened to reveal Mrs Argent, who smiled widely at her. "Hello Wren, why don't you come in?"
And into the lion's den she went.
Sorry it took me so long to update! School has been kicking my ass. And yes, Wren and Derek's relationship doesn't seem that great, but trust me, they'll become friends as the story goes along.
Thank you Lucy Greenhill and xLadyInBluex for reviewing, MaderThanTheHatter and RealmOnShadows for favouriting and MaderThanTheHatter, LuvinYouWasRed, Lisa1312, xLadyInBluex, moonskip, mistressofdarkness666 and mickey423 for following.