Act 1: Daydreams
PART NINE
Allison awkwardly sat on her front porch waiting for her dad to get home. He was bringing her aunt Kate from the airport and told her to be ready to greet her. As if Allison weren't excited already.
She watched the younger kids in her neighborhood goof around and throw small rocks at each other. She shifted around in her spot as she laughed at their tomfoolery then absentmindedly checked her phone. A smile spread across her face. Scott had texted her.
Do you want to hang out?
Allison covered her mouth, trying to hide her smile, and looked around the street. She didn't want the neighborhood kids to think she was strange for getting excited over a text.
She bit her lip, thinking about her response. Of course she wanted to see Scott, Scott was this amazing joy in her life. He was this entity that changed the way she saw the world. After her mother died, Allison had endured living in a deranged haze. She had felt lost and didn't know what to do with herself, but when she moved to Beacon Hills Scott McCall's smile alone seemed to clear everything up.
Now they were happily dating.
Allison wanted to tell him yes. God knew she wanted to say yes, but her father would never let her go. He didn't know about Scott yet and she knew he wouldn't respond well to her ditching a 'family get together' for 'some boy'.
Sorry I can't, I have a family thing.
Maybe after?
She set her phone down beside her, and looked out to the street, patiently waiting for his reply. Allison's first instinct was to desperately wait in anticipation with her hands covering her face and lay in an almost fetal position, but she composed herself and focused on her next door neighbor's Halloween decorations until she heard the vibrations against the stone steps to her house.
Allison quickly grabbed for her phone. She mentally kicked herself for acting too eager, but checked the message regardless.
It's alright
Yeah I would love to meet up later
Allison smiled again, holding back an excited giggle. Despite being 18, she'd never felt this way over any guy before. She'd never even dated anyone before. In all honesty, Scott was the first guy she'd ever intimately kissed and held hands with. This was still new territory for her.
Allison had been an awkward child growing up. But being raised a hunter tends to do that, unless you're Kate. Her aunt Kate was the exception to everything. Kate was especially pretty, and especially strong, and especially perfect for a hunter. All the guys in the BHHA only ever wanted to talk about Kate and the amazing missions she conducted and the progress she'd made in Beacon Hills before Allison's parents showed up.
Some flickers of animosity welled up within Allison. She couldn't help it, but she still loved her aunt. Nothing could change that.
Allison realized she was gripping her phone a little too tight and dropped it on her lap. She looked up to clear her head and saw her dad driving down the block. By the time she rose from the porch he was pulling into the garage. Her aunt Kate waved from the passenger seat. Allison smiled back and hugged her once she got out the car.
"Wow, look at you!" Kate said, tightly wrapping her arms around Allison. "You look so grown up. The last times I saw you, you were still going through those awkward prepubescent changes. How could you let this happen Chris?" Kate said laughing. Allison's dad shrugged.
"She's always gonna be my little girl." Chris said smiling at the two. Allison was relieved his hands were too busy with Kate's belongings to turn the moment a photo opt.
Allison took a step away from her aunt and continued smiling at her and her father.
"I'm so glad you decided to visit." Allison said, clapping her hands together. "How long are you staying in town?" Allison asked. She tried to keep her focus on Kate as her phone vibrated in her hand. She received another text from Scott.
"Just a while." The trio walked into the house before Kate spoke again. Allison was about to subtly check her phone, but her aunt looked at her again. "I heard Derek Hale's back in town. How's that going?"
Chris frowned at her, quickly glancing at Allison. "Kate. Can we not discuss that right now? Don't you want to get settled in first?"
Kate turned towards her older brother and gave him an exasperated groan, rolling her eyes. "Come on Chris, Allison is technically heading the BHHA, I think she'll be okay hearing the grown-up talk." Kate looked at Allison again. "Haven't I already told you about the Hale family? Derek's a werewolf."
Allison nodded. Kate told had her about the werewolf situation in Beacon Hills and the Hale family's involvement during her year of training, along with an assortment of other Argent secrets.
"You know?" Chris asked, watching Allison. He still hadn't got around to telling her about the werewolves they had on file. He had wanted to keep her as objective as possible. Chris believed the best way to lead a group was through a clear, unbiased lens.
"She had a right to know. You can't keep stuff like that a secret from her." Kate said smirking. She looked at Allison again. "Have you been giving the wolf hell yet?"
Allison and Kate laughed together as Chris glared at his sister. He cleared his throat as he crossed his arms. "We follow a code Kate. None of us can go around hassling Derek or anybody else we suspect is a werewolf."
"Ignore him. All werewolves are monstrosities that need to be exterminated, like cockroaches." Kate said, wrapping her arm around Allison's shoulders. She walked her to the kitchen, where they sat down to catch up. Chris left to retrieve the rest of Kate's bags. Now he was starting to regret inviting his sister over, but in all honesty he didn't have much of a choice.
"So how's school? Keeping up your straight A average?" Kate asked, sitting in the chair opposite her niece.
"School's good." Allison said, again fighting the urge to check her phone. She had felt another vibration in her hand. "I've been getting pretty good grades too."
"Have you met any cute boys yet?" Kate asked, slightly leaning on the table. Allison blushed as she thought of Scott. Kate smiled at her, Allison was like an open book. "Aww, come on, you can tell me. I promise I won't tell Chris."
Allison gave in and checked her phone. The two messages read,
I'm thinking about what we can do later...
We could go for ice cream
Allison quickly texted him a confirmation.
Sounds like fun :)
"Is that him?" Kate asked, trying to look over the table at Allison's phone.
"Yeah," Allison said, trying to hold back a smile. "We're gonna go out later."
"Nice... He's not ugly is he? Allison, I refuse to let you date a guy who doesn't understand the concept of personal hygiene. You very pretty, and could nab a decent portion of the guys in town if you wanted to... Just show me a picture of him, I'll tell you of he's good enough." Kate said. She rested her chin on her palm and thought aloud. "You're gonna have to introduce him to me sometime."
Allison violently shook her head no. "He's really handsome, but you can't meet him. My dad doesn't know about him. He can't know about him."
Kate laughed, leaning back in her chair. "I know what that's like. I remember hiding guys from my father. They usually had some kind weird facial tattoos or were seriously obsessed with the occult. So what's wrong with your guy? What kind of weird stuff are kids into these days?"
Allison bite her lip as Kate spoke. She knew Scott was nothing like the guys she was describing. Scott was perfectly normal. "He's normal."
Kate sat up straight in her seat, staring Allison square in the eye. "No teenage boy is normal. So, what's wrong with him?" Kate took a moment to guess his possible alignment. "He's not a drug addict, is he?"
"No."
"Drug dealer?"
"No. He's just normal. I mean, he's not just normal. He's handsome and kind and he can be really funny sometimes. He and I get along really well."
"Come on Allison. If he's what you're describing then Chris would know about him, he's met your other boyfriends, right?"
"No. I haven't dated anyone before."
"Aww, he's your first boyfriend. That's adorable Allison." Kate said laughing. "Oh God, when I was your age, if I wasn't hunting down some lowlife monster I was hooking up guys left and right." Kate looked off, slightly reminiscing about her youth. "I had my pick of whoever I wanted, and guys feel to their knees for me. I could literally make them do anything for me."
Allison awkwardly looked around the kitchen, checking for her dad. She didn't want to find out he'd been secretly ease dropping in on their conversation. The last thing she needed was for him to find out about Scott. She was already regretting telling her aunt anything.
"You know what?" Kate said, standing from the table. "We need to celebrate my return. It's been years since I've been in Beacon Hills."
Allison stood up as well. "What do you want to do?"
Kate shrugged, "Drive around."
·
Derek had stopped in the parking lot at Dan's Groceries. He 'd received another text from Stiles. Lately the younger boy had taken up the habit of texting him whenever he got bored. Derek never responded, but he was amused. Stiles was a terrible at texting. Deciphering the messages was turning into a little game for him.
He stood, leaning against his car, looking around. With every text he was more compelled to reply, but he didn't. He shut off his phone and stuffed it in his jacket's small pocket. Derek walked into the store. He had to go shopping today. He had run out of food a few days ago and was sick of eating out.
He walked into the store and had to ignore the obligatory stares from the staff and other customers. Everybody still remembered him as that kid whose family died. He could still feel their eyes accusing him, as if had started the fire. They all watched him like he was a criminal.
Derek was constantly reminded why he hated going into public.
As he walked through the aisles, Derek spotted Kate Argent. He felt his heart fault; he stopped in his tracks and mentally planned an escape route. So long as he didn't draw any attention to himself, he should be good, but it was too late for that. He could hear his name in the murmurs of the people a few aisles down.
He rushed out of the store as quickly as he could and maneuvered through the parking lot as swiftly as possible, he had to stay out her sight. He was almost at his car when he felt something penetrate through his skin, forcefully pressing him against a neighboring car. He felt the sharp piece slice through his arm, hitting into his bone. Derek couldn't stop himself from crying out in pain.
He pulled himself behind his car for shelter, cradling his arm once he was clear. Blood was seeping out from his jacket, and the pain was beginning to spread. Derek looked at his wound; he had an short metallic arrow sticking out from his arm. When he tried to pull it out the pain made him groan. He could feel the traces of wolfsbane coating the arrow and spreading into his blood. Now everything was beginning to hurt.
Derek closed his eyes, preparing himself and pulled the arrow out from his arm. His hands slightly shook as he dropped the relatively short piece. He stood up and looked around, still safely hidden by his car. He saw Kate and a younger girl racing through the parking lot, searching behind every car to find him.
He grabbed the arrow and jumped in the driver's seat and took off. His wound still hadn't healed yet so he carefully placed his arm over his lap; the last thing he wanted was to get blood on his seats. He drove for a good ten miles before pulling over and checking his arm again.
The wound remained and Derek felt the wolfsbane coursing through him, and sweat was beginning to form at his brow. He felt like he was losing control and a shift was coming, but when the phone in his jacket began to vibrate again he was anchored back.
·
"Damnit!" Kate said, hitting the hood of a black civic. Allison quickly examined the small dent she had caused and considered writing an apology note for the owner. Kate turned back to Allison. "I told you, you have to get his chest! If you don't the wolfsbane doesn't spread fast enough. Now we're gonna have a pissed off werewolf on our hands."
"I'm sorry." Allison said, looking around the parking lot. People could hear Kate yelling and wanted to see where the commotion was coming from. Allison felt her face heat up; she wanted to go home now.
Kate continued glaring down at her niece. "How did you miss? You're a nationally ranked champion."
"Well, if I had hit his chest the wolfsbane would have spread too quickly and he could have died." Allison said quietly. She didn't like her aunt getting so worked up like this. Her temper was the one of the many reasons she had to move back with her dad after a year of training.
"Sweetie, that was the point." Allison could hear the venom in her aunt's voice. Kate then proceeded to quickly run a hand through her hair.
Allison felt her jaw fall as she stared at Kate. "We can't just kill him. He hasn't done anything wrong, that's against the code."
"The fact that he's a werewolf is wrong all on its own."
"But we have to follow the code."
Kate looked away from Allison and gave an exasperated sigh before turning back and giving her a false smile. "I guess you're right. You are heading the hunters' association now, I guess you get to make the final calls."
Allison held in a smile. She was technically in charge of the hunters in Beacon Hills, but she usually let her father take charge. It was nice to have her position acknowledged.
Kate and Allison walked back to their car. Once they were seated, Allison had to ask the question on her mind.
"Why do you dislike Derek so much?"
Kate laughed as she started the car. "History, I guess. His sister was a complete bitch when we were in school."
"She was a werewolf too, right?"
"Yep. And I enjoyed every minute of chasing her down trying to kill her ass. I'll admit though, I was a little bummed out to hear she offed herself. God knows I would have loved to have been the one to slice her in half." Kate looked at the passenger's side, at Allison. Allison gave her a quick smile, attempting to disguise her discomfort. She loved her aunt Kate, but sometimes she took things a little too far.
"Now all I have is little old Derek to play with." Kate said tightly gripping the steering wheel. " Could you imagine how good it would look if I was the one who finished off the Hale lineage? Damn, that'd be awesome."
Allison had a hard time looking her aunt in the eye for the rest of the car ride.
·
When Derek reached his apartment he took the arrow he'd been impaled with and examined it in good light. He found a small inscription near the tip that read 'A. A.'
He assumed it was the initials of the younger girl who'd been with Kate. Whoever she was, she looked familiar. Derek was sure he'd seen her somewhere recently, but he couldn't remember where.
Derek placed the arrow in his closet and saw the red imprints that started forming on his palm and fingers. The wolfsbane was still highly concentrated on the arrow. Derek checked his arm as well. His injury was beginning to heal, but wasn't finished yet. The herb was still in his system. Derek sat down on his sofa and rested his head back. He took refuge in knowing that the Argents were still unaware of apartment. It was his last safe haven.
A/N:: Sorry for any and all spelling/grammatical errors and over all suckiness, this is not beta'd.. :#
So this chapter is actually on time.. this feels weird. I actually had time to edit and stuff this week, but this chapter is a bit shorter than usual. Well I'm off to write the first draft of chapter 12 [chp. 10 and 11 already have drafts that need a bit more editing.]
And thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story :)
[I'll try to update next Thursday, or earlier if I can pull it off.]
