HARSHER THAN THE BARK
A/N: Follow, favourite and review if you like! :)
Scarlett leaned her head against the window of Allison's car, drowning out Lydia and Allison's voices as they talked in the front. She was pretty sure they were trying to include her in the conversation but she didn't really care. She was too distracted thinking about what Peter had said. Not just about killing her, which terrified her, but also about him saying that Derek was in love with her. It seemed so absurd to her and she was sure that Peter had been lying but there was a part of her that actually wanted to believe him as well.
What if he wasn't though? What if, by some miracle Derek maybe was in love with her? She couldn't really see Derek being in love, especially not with her. Although, she knew that he definitely cared about her…probably as much as she cared about him and holy hell that was a lot. Her feelings for Derek were a lot stronger than any feelings she'd ever had for a guy and honestly, it scared her a bit. She wouldn't say she was in love with him, not yet, but there was definitely something between them. And she knew it wasn't just her that thought that.
"Is that alright with you Scar?" Scarlett's head snapped up and she looked at Allison who had been the one to speak to her.
"What, sorry?" She asked sheepishly.
"Is it okay if I run an errand before we go to the mall?" Allison laughed.
"Oh, yeah that's totally fine."
"Good. Because we're here." Allison said, parking the car at the entrance to the woods. Scarlett looked around and scrunched her face up in confusion. Allison had an errand to run…in the woods?
The three girls got out of the car and Allison got a duffel bag out of the trunk before leading the way. Scarlett and Lydia exchanged confused looks as they followed her deeper into the trees.
After a while, Lydia decided to speak up. "Allison, when you said you had to stop for an errand before we went shopping…a five-mile hike in the woods was not what I was expecting." She said, slightly out of breath as she and Scarlett tried to keep up with Allison's fast pace through the leaves whilst wearing heels.
"You could've told me before I decided on these heels." Scarlett complained. The shoes she was wearing were not designed for long nature walks and she was a little pissed that Allison hadn't mentioned it to her before.
Allison ignored the girls' complaints and instead she directed a question at Lydia. "Before I forget, I wanna make sure you're okay with something. Jackson asked me to the Winter Formal."
"Did he?" Lydia asked, trying to not sound interested or upset although, she was bad at covering it up.
"He gets around." Scarlett murmured, earning a small glare from Lydia.
"Yeah, just as friends but I wanted to make sure you're okay with it first." Allison said. Something about the way she said sounded a little cocky and bitchy and Scarlett wondered if maybe it had anything to do with the fact that Lydia made out with Scott. She had no idea how Allison found out about that but…why else would she be taunting Lydia?
"Sure." Lydia said chirpily. "As long as it's just as friends." The look she was giving Allison didn't match the cheeriness in her voice at all.
"Yeah…it's not like I would take him to the coach's office at lacrosse practice and make out with him or anything." And there it was.
"Nice one Lyds." Scarlett whispered to Lydia making Lydia give her a 'shut the hell up' look.
"Uh, about that…" Lydia said, walking faster after Allison. Scarlett smirked. They may have been her best friends but sometimes the drama was good amusement for her, so she stayed quiet and listened to the two of them go on at each other.
After a few minutes of Lydia trying to talk her way out of Allison's bad books, Allison took out a bow and arrow and started screwing on some strange arrowhead. Scarlett gave it a strange look. Allison definitely knew something…why else would she randomly be doing archery? The thought of Allison becoming a hunter scared her immensely. She knew she had nothing to worry about, well not really, but she was worried more for Scott's safety and all around state of mind. He was in love with Allison and if she became a hunter then everything that they had would be destroyed.
"What does that do?" Lydia asked.
"You're about to find out." Allison got the bow and arrow ready and Scarlett took hold of Lydia's arm, stepping back a bit.
They watched as Allison let the arrow fly and land in a tree trunk, making a small explosion of sparks appear upon impact. Scarlett's eyes widened at that. That was not a normal arrow. Not at all. It had to be one that they used for hunting.
"Allison…what-what exactly was that?" Scarlett stammered.
"I don't know…" Allison answered, not looking at her.
"Well, that was fun." Lydia said, stepping forward. "Any more lethal weapons you wanna try out?"
There was a silence among the three of them when they heard what sounded like a twig snapping. As if someone was trying to be sneaky. Scarlett's heart started beating faster, fearing what it might be because she knew what was really out there. They couldn't see anything through the fog but then they heard it again.
"Hold this." Allison said, handing the bow to Scarlett who looked at it like it was some kind of bomb.
"Why?"
"I wanna find out what that noise is." Lydia gave her a strange look. "Don't worry it's probably nothing." She said, walking away from the girls.
"What if that nothing is something and that something is dangerous?" Lydia asked really fast.
"Shoot it." Allison said without turning around. Scarlett gave a look of confusion before taking a step to follow after Allison.
"Where are you going?" Lydia whispered, pulling on her arm.
"Well I'm not just gonna let her go alone. What if it really is something dangerous and Allison is left unprotected because we have the bow and arrows and we're the ones who can't shoot for shit?" Scarlett asked, freaking out at the thought of something attacking Allison.
"Okay." Lydia nodded. "Let's go." She kept a hold of Scarlett's arm and they walked in the direction they had seen Allison go in once Lydia had grabbed the bag of arrows.
They heard a noise that sounded like someone in pain and they ran towards it.
"Allison!" They both shouted before coming to a stop upon seeing Allison crouching down beside Scott who was on his back, next to a Taser, looking up at her.
"Scott? What the hell are you doing here?" Scarlett asked, lowering the bow that she had raised as some sort of baseball bat.
Scott looked at her as if she was crazy. "Why the hell do you have a bow?!"
"It's not mine!" She said.
"It's mine." Allison admitted. "Um, we should go." She got up and took the bow off of Scarlett, walking past them. Scarlett raised a brow at Scott and quickly helped him up, getting all the leaves off him before following after Allison and Lydia.
"I like it." Scarlett jumped at the voice behind her. She spun around and put a hand over her racing heart when she saw Derek standing by her window. Her eyes widened and she walked over to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Oh my God…" She whispered before pulling back. "I-why are you here?" He gave her a grim look and pulled her arms away from him. She gave him a confused look.
"I-I shouldn't be." He said, looking like he was battling an inner war with himself.
"Then why are you?"
"Because I had to make sure you were okay." He admitted, looking into her eyes.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" She asked, staring back at him with as much intensity. He looked troubled, more troubled then he usually did and she didn't like it. She knew it was because of Peter and it made her blood boil. He was using Derek like some sort of puppet and that was not okay with her.
"You went out today."
"Yeah…so?"
"So, if Peter sees you he's going to kill you. You need to be careful." He told her. His voice was soft but he was being stern at the same time.
"Actually, he said he'd rip me apart." She said with a slight laugh, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. Not that she was feeling very happy herself but she hated seeing him so upset. But, that was probably the wrong thing to say. He searched her eyes, seeming confused.
"What the hell could you possibly find funny about dying? Scarlett, this is your life…Not a joke. And why are you acting so calm?" He said, sounding offended that she would even try to make the situation funny.
"I'm not calm!" She snapped. "Of course I am not fucking calm Derek. I am freaking out. Your uncle is a psychotic friggin' Alpha that has me on his hit list and you honestly think that I actually find that funny? Because I really don't. I just said that because…I don't know, passing things off as funny is my way to cope with stuff. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that I'm not careful. But I didn't realise going shopping was that big of a deal."
"It wasn't the going shopping part that put you in danger, Peter wouldn't kill you in a public place. It was the part where you went into the fucking woods. Are you an idiot?" He asked, gripping the tops of her arms.
"No." She answered immediately. "I'm not an idiot. And besides, I was with Lydia and Allison and Allison just so happened to bring along a bow and arrow and believe it or not she's a pretty damn good archer. Not to mention Scott was also following us like the stalker he is and-wait, how did you know that we went into the woods?" She asked, forgetting her rant.
He clenched his jaw, letting go of her arms and looking down. "I had to know you were safe." He said quietly.
"You followed us? Are you freaking serious? So really, everything your saying is bullshit and if anything were to happen then you would've been there as well." She half laughed, half scoffed.
"What was I supposed to do?" He snapped at her. "How else was I supposed to know you weren't getting ripped to shreds, huh?" There was a slight quaver in his voice that made Scarlett's bitchy attitude disappear. She looked up at him with softer eyes. Knowing that he cared for her that much made her heart flutter. In reply to his question, she got on her tippy toes and pressed her lips to his softly.
He reciprocated by putting his hands on her waist and pulling her closer to him. The kiss started to get more heated and he turned them around, pushing her against the wall while her hands tangled in his hair. She pulled away for air and continuously ran her hands through his hair, messing it up. His mouth moved down to her neck and he began sucking and biting making her moan and tilt her head back to give him better access. She pulled him back up to kiss her and he then moved his hands from her waist to her ass, squeezing gently making her moan into his mouth before he grabbed the backs of her thighs and lifted her up. He began grinding his hips against hers and she moaned softly again when she felt him harden slightly.
They both froze when they heard a knock at the door.
"Hey Scar sweetheart, can I see you for a minute?" Melissa shouted through the door.
"Um…Just a second!"
Derek let Scarlett down and scolded himself for not hearing Melissa coming up the stairs. He looked at Scarlett and she looked like a riot. That was so stupid of him. Why the hell was he incapable of controlling himself around her? Thinking about that made him go back to what Peter had said about him being in love with Scarlett. Peter had that wrong. He wasn't in love with her although he was well on his way there. He felt so much for her but being in love wasn't his thing. He had sworn to himself that he would never fall in love again but he wasn't sure he could keep that promise with Scarlett around.
"Why are you just standing there?" Scarlett whispered, trying to straighten herself out and smooth down her hair. "Go!" He noticed one hair out of place and he fixed it quickly before jumping out of the window.
"Scarlett?" Melissa called again. Scarlett gathered herself, taking a deep breath, trying to forget the amazing make out session and she walked to the door.
"Yes?" Melissa looked at her with a strange look and Scarlett thought that she was busted but as it turns out, she wasn't.
"That's a nice dress. Did you get that today?" Her mom asked with a smile. Scarlett sighed with relief and looked down at the dress. She was trying it on when Derek appeared. He said he liked it and that only made her like it more.
"Yeah, I did. Do you like it?"
"I love it." Melissa said. "Oh, but I need your help."
"With…?"
"I might have a date tonight." Scarlett's eyes widened and she smiled brightly.
"Seriously?! Oh my God, who is it? Is he cute? Do I know him?" She asked excitedly. Melissa hadn't been on a date for years so this was huge.
"Uh, he's a medical rep. He is most definitely cute and no, you do not know him."
Scarlett seemed to forget about all the other crap going on and she was solely focused on her mom. She grabbed Melissa's hand and pulled her over to the bed, sitting down next to her.
"Alright, tell me everything. How did this happen?"
"Well, he came into the hospital today and we just started talking then the next thing I know, he's asking me to dinner and I'm saying yes." Melissa shrugged and laughed.
Scarlett squealed like a little girl and hugged her mom tightly. "I'm so happy for you!" In her head she was already planning out their wedding, working around the fact that she had no clue who the guy was or what he even looked like.
"So do you think you could maybe help me get ready?"
"I'd be honoured momma bear." Scarlett said, using the nickname that she had always used for Melissa.
The two of them walked to Melissa's room and Scarlett sat her down in front of the mirror before going to her mom's closet. She went through all of her clothes before finally deciding on an outfit that was all black. Black pants, black shirt and a black patterned blazer/jacket.
When she was finished with that she went back to Melissa and laid out all of her makeup.
"Nothing too fancy Scar." Scarlett rolled her eyes. She always liked to do her makeup a little more eccentric when she went out. Not anything crazy just not her routine everyday makeup.
"Don't be such a bore." Scarlett joked, earning a fake glare from Melissa. "Okay, seriously, you have nothing to worry about. I've already got an image in my head."
With that she started on her makeup, doing it more on the simple side and when she was finished she moved onto her hair, styling in nicely so that it looked classy. After that, she raked through Melissa's jewellery box, finding a sliver necklace and matching earrings. When she was finished she took a step back and admired her work.
"Alright, get dressed." Scarlett said, pointing to the outfit that was on the bed. As Melissa did that Scarlett went to her closet to find a pair of snazzy heels. She handed them to her when she was fully dressed and smiled when the outfit was completed. "They grow up so fast." She said, covering her mouth with her hand like her Melissa did when Scarlett went out on her first date.
"Ha ha. You're cute." Melissa joked, kissing Scarlett on the head before walking out of her room and into Scott's room. Scarlett hoped to God that Scott hadn't been home when Derek had been there.
Instead of following her mother, Scarlett went back to her room to finally take off the dress. She changed into more comfortable clothing and then she heard the doorbell ring. Someone, most likely Scott, ran down to get it and she slowly made her way out of her room as well. She was keen to see who her mom's mystery man was so she walked down the stairs only to find Scott standing, looking at the door which was still closed.
The doorbell rang again and Scarlett heard Melissa shout from upstairs. "Scott! Open the door!"
When Scott still didn't move Scarlett rolled her eyes and walked past him, yanking the door open only to freeze in fear. She felt Scott grab her arm and pull her away from the door, trying to slam it on Peter, who stood there looking casual. He put his hand out and pushed the door, preventing Scott from closing it.
"Hello there." Peter said. Scarlett stood behind Scott, glaring at Peter. This was total bullshit. She was not letting her mom go on a date with Peter fucking Hale.
"I'll tell her." Scott said, his voice sounding shaky.
"That I used to be a catatonic invalid with burns covering half my face? Good luck with that." Peter replied, being a smartass. That only made Scarlett hate him more.
"If you hurt her…if you even touch her-"
"Scott if I may interrupt your listing of the top five most impotent sounding threats, for a moment, try and remember that I was in a coma for six years. Don't you think I'd like to have dinner with a beautiful woman?"
"Not when that beautiful woman is our mom you jackass." Scarlett spat out at him.
"Just uh, half a second." Melissa called from behind them, going into the kitchen. Peter smiled at her but then his face became stoic as he looked at Scarlett again.
"I do recall telling you that if you got in my way I'd…what was it? Rip you apart? Maybe you forgot about that."
"You're not gonna do anything right now." Scarlett said, still semi-hiding behind her brother.
"You're right. Not right now." Peter said menacingly.
"Is Derek with you?" Scott asked, seeming to realise something. Peter smirked and stepped into the house.
"No. But I can see why you'd think that. Although, I thought your senses were sharp enough to realise that his scent isn't on me…" He said, eyes trailing towards Scarlett whose heart started beating faster and faster. She was afraid that it might jump out of her chest. Not only was she afraid of Peter killing her mom and her, but she was also deathly afraid of the look Scott gave her. It was a very dark look, very similar to the look he wore during the last full moon when he acted like a completely different person. "Hmm…well, we can save the brother-sister conflict for later. Right now, Scott, you have to understand how much more powerful we are together. You and me and Derek." Both males' eyes travelled to Scarlett's guilt-ridden face. "Did you know that some of the most successful military operations during the Second World War, were the German u- boat attacks? Do you know what they're called? Wolf packs. Did you know that? Or are you failing History as well?"
"I know the German's lost the war." Scott said lowly.
Peter let out a small, sarcastic laugh. "I think you'll find that most historians would argue that as a failure of leadership. And trust me; we don't have that problem here."
Scarlett turned at the sound of Melissa's heels clicking against the floor.
"I'm ready." She said with a smile. "Sorry again. Okay, you two have a goodnight and behave." Melissa kissed Scarlett's head again before Peter offered his arm and the two of them walked out the door.
"Do something!" Scarlett hissed at Scott quietly.
"Mom," He said, rushing to the door.
"Yes, sweetheart?" She gave both Scott and Scarlett questioning looks when she turned around.
"Have a good time." Scott said finally. He obviously didn't mean that but he had panicked. Scarlett groaned, running a hand through her hair. Her nerves were eating at her. It wasn't her own life she feared for anymore, it was her mother's. What if Peter did hurt her? Scarlett couldn't continue living if he did anything to her. She would personally find a way to rip his heart out. If she managed to survive Scott's wrath.
Scott turned to her slowly, his eyes dangerous and his breathing heavy as if he was trying to control himself.
"Why do you smell like Derek?" His voice kind of scared her. She couldn't lie, he would be able to tell by her heartbeat but she also couldn't tell him that they were close to screwing each other's brains out.
"He was here…and he wanted to see that I was still alive." She said, controlling her voice and her breathing better than she thought she would.
"Why was he doing that?"
"I should've told you sooner but…the other night, Peter threatened to kill me if I got in his way."
"Yeah, he said that a few minutes ago. But that doesn't explain why Derek was with you." She was pissed that he didn't seem to care about the whole death threat thing. If someone had seriously threatened to kill Scott then she would be freaking out. She didn't dwell on the thought though. She had to focus on keeping her heartbeat steady.
"Because…" She was going to think of something that was believable but instead she snapped. "Hell, maybe it's because he actually gives a shit whether I live or die which seems to be something you care very little about."
Her throat began to tighten and she knew she would end up crying if she went on, admitting out loud how upset she was that Scott didn't care about her wellbeing, so she ran away up stairs and into her room. She heard Scott shouting after her but she ignored him. She slammed the door and grabbed her hair, feeling angry and frustrated enough to just yank it all out. Her breathing became rugged and she felt as if the room was spinning. She fell to her knees and from there fell onto the floor, dragging her hands down her face and then holding her head trying to control her erratic heartbeat and get rid of the constant pounding in her head.
The room slowly stopped spinning and she let a single tear slip from her eye. Her hands were still shaking and her head still hurt but she managed to start taking deep breaths, telling herself that everything was okay even though it was very far from that. She reached for her phone which was discarded on the bed. Leaning against the bed, she unlocked the phone with shaking hands and called Derek.
She heard the front door slam shut right before Derek answered on the second ring.
"Scarlett? What's wrong? Are you okay?" He answered, sounding worried.
"I'm f-fine-"
"You don't sound fine. What happened?" He cut her off.
"Don't worry about me." She croaked out, her voice sounding tight. "I need you to tell me the truth. Did you know about Peter going out with my mom tonight?" She really hoped that he hadn't known. Because if he had then that means he was with her, kissing her, and all along he knew that her mother's life was in jeopardy.
There was a silence before he spoke again, confirming her fears. "Scar-"
"You knew." She said, sounding betrayed. "You knew and you didn't tell me? The whole time you were with me…how- how could you stand there and kiss me knowing full well that my mom was going to be in danger? She could die, Derek! Do you understand that? He's going to kill her!" Her voice was frantic as she shouted at him. She could feel another panic attack coming on.
"He isn't going to kill her!" Derek snapped. "Calm down-"
"Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you tell me to calm down when my mom…my mom is out there with-with-" She couldn't finish what she was going to say before the silent tears started streaming down her face. She couldn't lose her mom. She was never supposed to be involved in any of it.
"I'm sorry. Please believe me when I say that. And believe when I say that he isn't going to hurt her. I promise you that-"
"Hey, who the hell are you talking to?" Scarlett frowned when she heard a familiar voice through the phone.
"I-is that…Jackson?" She asked quietly. Her tears had stopped when she heard Derek's promise. She wasn't sure she could believe it but it did make her feel somewhat better and she was sure that Scott had a plan and was out sabotaging the date as she sat there doing nothing.
"I have to go." Derek said.
"No, wait. Why are you with Jackson? What the hell is going on Derek?"
"I can't talk to you right now. Just, stay at home okay?"
"No, not okay. Where are you? What are you doing with Jackson?"
"I'm sorry Scarlett." With that, he hung up on her. Well, she definitely couldn't stay at home. Not when he was acting a suspicious and not when he was with Jackson…then it hit her. It had something to do with Jackson wanting the bite. Her eyes widened and she quickly got up, which was a mistake because she felt dizzy again. She stood for a moment, steadying herself before pocketing her phone and yanking her shoes on. She ran out of her room and down the stairs but stopped when she heard someone call her name.
"Scarlett!" Allison called from the top of the stairs making Scarlett turn around and give her a look of confusion.
"When…did you get here?" Scarlett asked, looking around for some sort of answer.
"I-uh, I came to talk to Scott but he left in a hurry and told me to wait here." Allison gave a small laugh. Okay, so Scott was handling their mom and Peter. That was good. That relieved her but she had to get to the Hale House. She had a feeling that's where Derek was.
"I hate to leave you by yourself but I have to go run an errand real quick." Scarlett said, trying to get away.
"Oh, do you want me to come with you?"
"No." Scarlett said quickly before noticing the upset look on Allison's face. "I mean, it's fine, really. I'll be back soon. Thanks anyway. And uh, help yourself to whatever."
She didn't wait for a reply before grabbing the keys to her car and rushing out. Her guess was that Scott had gotten a ride off of Stiles and that's why their car was still there. Thank God for that. She got in the car and drove like a mad man down to the woods and through them to get to the Hale House.
Derek's car was parked outside so she knew that they were there. That and the shouting she could hear coming from inside was a dead giveaway. She briskly walked up to the house and pushed the door open only to be met by Scott and Derek both in their werewolf forms and Jackson cowering on the stairs. He looked like he'd been crying and she instantly felt bad. Damn her feelings.
"What the hell is going on?!" She shouted. "Why are you here Scott? Is mom okay?"
"Why are you here?!" He shouted back.
"It doesn't matter. Is mom okay?" She reiterated.
"She's fine. Now move." He growled at her. Derek grabbed her arm and pushed her behind him, away from Scott and Scott snapped. "Don't touch my sister!" He went to lunge at him but there was a noise and then Derek shouted for everyone to get down as an arrow went flying through the window, setting off sparks that were then followed by lots and lots of gunfire. Derek made sure that Scarlett was safe, shielding her from the oncoming bullets and when she saw Scott get shot she shouted and scrambled to get to him but Derek wouldn't let her. Instead he shoved her in the direction that Jackson had run off in.
"Go!"
"No, Scott!" She shouted again, trying to fight against Derek but it was no use.
"He'll be fine now get out!" He shouted at her, really fucking wishing she would listen. She was not dying there. Not while he was still living. Despite her desperate need to get to her injured twin she did what Derek said and ran the way Jackson had.
She caught up to Jackson and he gripped her arm as they ran away from the house together, trying to make it out of the woods. And when they were far enough away, Scarlett stopped and looked back the way they came.
"We have to go back." She said.
Jackson looked at her as if she had grown another head. "Are you fucking insane? You wanna run back into all that gunfire?"
"Yes. Because people that I care about are in there and they're in trouble! I know that you don't really understand that concept but I just, I need to go back. Whether you come with me or not." She said fiercely, finally turning to face him again.
He gave her a 'no way in hell' look and she sighed, starting to head back to the house.
"Scarlett, wait!" He said, grabbing her arm.
"Change your mind?" She asked.
He looked conflicted as he spoke. "Look, how about we stay here for a few more minutes and then I'll…take you back."
"Why do we have to wait?"
"Because maybe then the people shooting at us will be gone." He spoke to her as if she was a child and that pissed her off. He'd always done that when they were dating.
"You know what? You can stay here or go home or whatever, but I'm going back now." She scoffed, turning to leave again.
"Dammit Scarlett just wait!" He shouted. "You're not going by yourself…I can't let you."
"Why the hell not?" She snapped.
"Because despite what you think, I did actually care about you and honestly, I'd rather not see you die." He admitted, looking anywhere but her.
She gave him an incredulous look. "If you cared about me you wouldn't have been such a dick to me."
"Okay, I was a crappy boyfriend. I get that. But I did care about you. And that's why I'm not just gonna let you walk back there and get shot to death." His tone was still snappy but that was probably the most caring she'd ever seen Jackson. He was trying to be somewhat nice and she could see what a struggle that was for him so she accepted the fact that this was the most human she'd ever see him. After this, he would go back to acting like a cold hearted bastard.
She pursed her lips before sighing. "We'll walk slowly. Come on." Begrudgingly he followed her and they ended up falling into step with one another.
"So, you know about this whole werewolf thing?" He asked.
"Well when your brother is one you kind of have to know." She replied.
"He was going to kill me."
"Who?"
"Derek." He said as if it was obvious.
"Probably because you're a selfish prick." She told him honestly, making him glare at her.
"You seem pretty close with him…maybe you could talk him into giving me the bite." Jackson said, trying to pass it off as something normal.
"No chance in hell." Scarlett replied almost immediately. "Besides, what makes you think Derek and I are close?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Seriously? The guy was pretty much taking bullets for you. And it was you on the phone, wasn't it? That's why he didn't sound like a total douche?"
"Whatever. I'm still not doing that." She shrugged it off although what he said had been true. Derek didn't get shot but he was more than ready to take a bullet or two for her. That kind of ensued that the two of them were close. Hell, they were closer than close.
There was silence between them for the rest of the walk. Jackson didn't want to push any further because he was afraid that Scarlett would have Derek kill him if he did. He was so close to dying earlier…he sure as hell didn't want that again.
Scarlett put a hand out to stop Jackson from walking any further. He gave her a look and she motioned for him to be completely silent as they approached the house. He rolled his eyes and then when they were at the side of the house he stepped on a twig. Scarlett glared at him and he just shrugged. She clenched her jaw and peered around the side. There was no one there anymore.
She made sure that there wasn't a random hunter lurking around before she ran into the house again to find it empty.
Jackson waited outside for her, whipping his head around constantly, paranoid that someone would sneak up on him.
Inside the house was just even more wrecked than it had been before and there was blood on the floor where Scott had been and there was absolutely no sign of Derek. She stood there, staring at the floor. Why weren't they there? What if they had both been killed and taken away by the hunters?
Her hands started shaking as she walked back outside. "T-they aren't there…I- where, where are they?" She whispered.
Jackson gave her as much as a sympathetic look as he could muster up but really, he didn't give a shit that they were gone. Derek wanted to kill him and Scot well, he didn't like Scott. Sure, he had basically saved his life but he still thought of him as some kid trying to steal his glory. The only thing either of them was good for was getting him the bite and since that didn't seem to be happening…he didn't care where they were.
"Well, if they aren't there then you aren't gonna find them. Not tonight anyway. You should go home." He said, putting an arm around her.
Scarlett looked up at him and wanted to shout at him for being so heartless but she couldn't find the strength to do so. Two of the most important people in her life were missing or dead and she couldn't do jack shit about it.
He walked her to his Porsche which she hadn't realised was even there until then. Feeling numb, she got into the passenger's side and Jackson drove her back to her house, abandoning her own car.
When she was back home she walked to her room and shut the door, walking to the bathroom. While she waited for the water to heat up she stood in front of the mirror and took in how horrible she looked. She was so tired and it showed on her face. The sadness she was feeling replaced the usual happy gleam in her eyes and she didn't recognise herself. She turned away from the mirror and stepped into the shower, letting the scalding hot water cascade down her.
After washing herself she decided to just sit. She wanted the water to wash away all of her fears but that really wasn't happening. The fear of losing Scott and Derek was all she could think about. She imagined them both dead. And what a horrible image that was. She knew that she should hold onto that shred of hope that they were still alive, that they had made it out, but that was easier said than done. Maybe if she hadn't run like a coward then she would still be with them. Or at least she would know if they were dead or alive. But she had run. She had done what Derek told her to do and she had left him. And she had left Scott knowing full well he was injured. Who does that? She thought of herself as a horrible person. As someone who left people behind.
Finally, she got out of the shower and got changed and crawled into bed. Even though she was tired, she didn't sleep. How could she? Instead, she kept her eyes open and stared at the ceiling, praying that in the morning Scott would be back and so would Derek and everything would be fine.
