This Chapter was inspired by - E.T. - Katy Perry ft. Taio Cruz
Don't forget to review you guys because I value your opinions and really, really, REALLY want to know how you're liking my story so far because I love writing it. :D
The day started as normal as any other, with Anna getting up considerably late and being in a hurry. She found her old danisnotonfire t-shirt and pulled on a pair of black jeans. Shoving her laptop and several school books into her satchel, she threw it over her shoulder and placed her cat ear hat firmly on her head before attempting the task of pulling on her sneaker boots. Miraculously, they slipped on with ease.
Hurrying down the stairs, she caught Kyle just as he was leaving. "Can I get a ride?" she asked, trying to pull her best innocent face. He rolled his eyes at her. "Fine," he said, closing the door, "But you got five minutes or I'm leaving without you."
Anna gave him lopsided thumbs up and continued into the kitchen, where she forced a piece of toast into your mouth. "Honey," her mom said as she was about to exist the kitchen. "One of your friends called earlier. Said his name was Isaac."
Crap.
"He wanted to talk to you about that history project-?"
Double crap. She'd forgotten all about the history project due to the past few days and knew she couldn't put it off any longer. "And what did you say?" she asked, a little apprehensively.
"I told him you'd speak to him at school," she replied inquisitively, "Are you sure everything's okay, hun?"
No mom, everything is not okay. My best friend's a werewolf and the guy who turned him and ruined his life is now out on the loose. Oh, did I mention he may have murdered his own sister? She thought bitterly.
"Everything's fine, mom." Anna gave a brief half-smile before hugging her mom and departing.
On the way to school, Kyle supplied standard questions to which Anna gave yes or no affirmatives until they reached the school. The car park was littered with police cruisers, forensic vans and ambulances. Kyle had to park his car a block away from the school and walk. "What the hell…?" he said, as they approached what appeared to be a crime scene. One of the school busses was covered in blood and scratch marks with forensic teams crawling all over it, swabbing this and photographing that.
Dread curled around Anna's heart as a coil as she came to stand next to Carly and Isaac with Kyle. "What happened?" she asked them when she reached them, though more to Carly. Isaac tried to meet her eye but she refused to look at him for more than a moment. She wasn't sure why, but he was a stranger and she was already risking the lives of her closest friends and family by knowing what she knew.
"Someone was attacked, that's all they'll say." Isaac said solemnly, as they stared at the shell of the school bus. It was a disused one, but it would still be expensive for the school to have it removed.
"So, what do they think it is, some kind of animal?" Kyle asked him.
"Nobody knows, but it has to be," Isaac said stiffly, "No person could do this much damage."
You'd be surprised, Anna thought.
It was in Chemistry when the second piece of news appeared. Scott and Stiles had just been separated for talking, and as Anna watched Scott take his seat next to Carly, who gave him a small smile, a sense of terror crept round me but I wasn't the first to spot it. "Hey, I think they found something!" she chimed, jumping up in her seat. She was wearing a blue V-neck t-shirt with flares at the ends, a simple beige cap with her long, silky black hair pulled back into a stiff pony tail and simple ripped jeans. Anna envied her outfit for a second, and then her attention was redirected to the body they were bringing out on the stretcher.
She heard Scott whisper, "That's not a rabbit." And then the man sat bolt upright screaming in abject terror.
The class yelled and Anna flinched as everyone sprang away from the window. "I wonder who he is?" Carly asked her but Anna wasn't paying too much attention. She was staring at Scott, who looked pale and sickly at the sight.
Isaac cornered her at break. Anna was putting her books into her locker, which was now overflowing with crap, and had just slammed the door to reveal Isaac's face staring at her. She yelped in shock, flinching backwards, and then let out a relieved smile.
"Isaac!" she sighed, her heart subsiding, "You scared me."
"Sorry," he said, gripping his hair. It was intensely distracting, the way he played with it but luckily for Anna he cut to the chase. "It's just- we need to start the history project sooner or later. And it feels like you've been avoiding me all day."
"Oh, Isaac, I haven't been avoiding you," okay, so that was an outright lie, but it was better than blurting the insane truth. "There are some things going on at the moment. Between me and Scott and the others and it's darn complicated but if you want you can come round to mine tonight. My mom and brother should be out of the house, so we'll only have to worry about my intolerable little sister." Anna completed with false enthusiasm.
"Okay," he said, as if surprised at the outcome, "I'll see you tonight then."
Anna began to turn her back on him, and then, as if as an afterthought. "Wait, you do know where I live, right?"
"Of course," he frowned, "I live down the street from you."
Insensitive much? Anna thought as she headed for lunch.
Scott and Stiles were already locked deep in concentration when Anna arrived. Carly wouldn't be joining them today, as she'd forfeited most of her lunchtimes to the school newspaper.
"What's wrong?" Anna asked as she sat down next to Stiles on his left and pulled out her packed lunch. Unlike all her friends, she didn't eat school dinners, period. Not since she had found a hair ball in one of them in the fifth grade. No, she would be stick to ham and cheese sandwiches and Coca-Cola.
"Scott wants to learn how to be a werewolf from Derek." Stiles said sullenly, pulling open a bag of chips and greedily forcing them into his mouth.
"What?" Anna exclaimed but Scott only rolled his eyes, "Do you want to die?"
"Yes, no- look. The only thing that matters in solving this," he said gesturing to himself. "Until then, I can't go out with Alison. I'm gunna have to cancel."
"No, you're not cancelling," Stiles said certainly, "You can't just cancel your entire life. We'll figure it out."
"Figure what out?" the familiar, yet annoying voice made Anna turn to see who had spoken. It was none other than Lydia Martin, and herself and her entire click, was coming to sit with them. Danny sat next to Stiles on his right whereas another girl she didn't know sat next to Anna on the left. Anna turned and gave her a warm smile, which the other girl returned, although it was clear she didn't want to make a habit of smiling at losers. Alison sat on the other side of Scott and some gut plunked himself down at the head of the table.
"Get up." Jackson snarled, striding over and glaring down at the guy.
"Why don't you ever ask Danny to get up?" the guy ask sadly, and even though he was probably just another dumb jock, Anna felt a certain degree of sympathy towards him.
"Because I don't stare at his girlfriend's coin slot," Danny amended and she suppressed a smile.
Jackson shoved him out of the chair and glared at Scott as Danny continued, "So, I heard they said it was some kind of animal attack. Probably a cougar."
"I heard mountain lion," Jackson said and Anna rolled her eyes and opened her mouth ready to correct him when, shockingly, Lydia did it for her.
"A cougar is a mountain lion," Jackson gave her a strange look so Lydia added in the dumbest voice ever, "Isn't it?"
"Who cares?" Jackson said vehemently, "The guys probably just some homeless tweeker who's gunna die anyway."
"Actually, I just found out how it is," Stiles said, glancing round. No one seemed to care too much except himself, Scott and Anna. The video was a short news clip, and identified the victim as Garrison Myers. The name rang a bell but Anna couldn't place it.
"I know this guy." Scott said suddenly, and that familiar sense of dread that she kept getting ever since Scott was bitten filled her again.
"You do?" Alison asked, surprised.
"Yeah, from when I used to take the bus when I lived with my dad. He was the driver."
The table was silent for a moment, then Lydia said, "Can we talk about something more fun please like where we're going tomorrow night."
Scott's face was priceless when Lydia added, "You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow, right?" Anna stifled a giggle.
"We were thinking of what we were going to do." Alison said in a totally naïve way. Stiles looked sympathetic whereas Anna was increasingly struggling to hide her smile.
"Well," Lydia replied in her usual shallow way, "I'm not sitting at home all night watching Lacrosse videos again. So, if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun."
Scott turned to Alison. "Hanging out?" he asked her, "Like the four of us? You want to hang out? As in, us and them?"
"Yeah, I guess, I mean. It sounds fun." Anna was giving of chocked laughter now that seemed to alarm the girl next to her. Stiles stood on her foot when she got a little too loud.
"You know what else sounds fun?" Jackson told them, "Stabbing myself in the face with a fork." Lydia wrestled it out of his grip as the rest of the table rolled their eyes. Anna attempted to make eye contact, telepathically begging him to speak up as Lydia suggested bowling as a possible activity.
"You can bowl right?" Alison asked Scott as he looked increasingly uncomfortable.
"Sort of-"
Jackson leaned forward in a threatening manner; "Sort of or yes?" he asked and looked at the rest of them. Anna dropped her gaze back to her food, not wanting to see his smug face.
"Yes," Scott replied, not intimidated by his amateur display, "In fact, I'm a great bowler."
It was half past 3 when Anna got the frantic phone call off her mom. "Aunt Eleanor has been rushed to the hospital. She had a stroke, Kyle's with me so you'll have to get Stiles to give you a ride home. There's lasagna in the fridge. Don't wait up." Was what the entire message said. Gee, thanks for the heads up earlier mom, Anna thought solemnly. Stiles had already gone, and there was no other option except to walk. Luckily, it would take only fifteen minutes to reach her house if she took a detour through the woods but it would mean almost certainly crossing paths with the Hale house and a possible encounter with Derek.
Screw it, she thought, He's still a suspect, he won't hurt me.
And so began her lonely trek through the woods as she made her way across the lacrosse field. It wasn't a practice day, so it was practically deserted with only a few kids hanging out on the bleachers or taking an after school run on the track.
The forest seemed slightly more menacing than she'd remembered walking home from school in freshman year. Maybe it was just paranoia but the trees seemed denser and more tightly packed together, their branches reaching out to touch her skin and snag her hair and clothing… dragging her straight to hell.
She shivered and pulled her jacket and satchel closer to her. What if Derek does hurt me? He's done it before to others. Maybe even his own sister. Fear began to creep through her mind and again she tried even harder to penetrate the elapsing darkness that was falling around her. Maybe it made sense to be so cautious. There was something killing people at least, Derek or animal or otherwise.
She blinked for a moment, scanning the trees for the outline of her house but saw nothing through the dense forest. Chills shot down her spine. She continued walking further, until she was sure she was somewhere close to her home, then she paused again, a little lost. Cold froze into her bones and she felt as though someone were whispering to her. She couldn't hear it, exactly; just sense it.
The wind moaned through the branches, a smug chorus feeding her fear. She felt something tug at her shirt and she screamed, turning rapidly, her heart in her mouth and stomach churning from blood curdling fear.
Standing about three feet away from her was Derek Hale, unconcerned by her scream. Oh, god, now he's going to kill me. But Anna only sighed and said evenly, "I'm sorry if I'm on your land, again. I didn't know."
Derek hesitated for a moment before speaking. "What you know, it's a very powerful secret," he told her, very slowly, the menace showing in his voice. "I'm not going to threaten you because you're a smart girl. If there are hunters in town, they're going to want to know what you know. By any means." – An image of someone waiting outside of Georgina's elementary school with a gun flashed into her mind. Her face drained of color. "That's why you can't tell anyone." He said firmly, "Because if you do, believe me. You'll know about it. And so will your family."
The last sentiment chilled the blood in her veins and she went stark white. "L-L-Leave them alo-one." She stammered.
"I will," he promised, "Just as long as you don't say a word."
"I won't, I swear. If anybody hears about you, or werewolves or whatever, it won't be from me."
"Good." He said and threw something at her. Anna flinched slightly but caught it. It was the tiger pendant her father had given her for her fifth birthday. She hadn't even realized it was missing, with all the drama of the past couple of days. She must have dropped it the night they'd found Laura's body.
Shaking, she placed it back over her slender neck and ran the rest of the way home.
Once at home, she dumped her bags on the kitchen table and spotted a small post-it note scribbled in her mother's beautiful handwriting.
I'll be back tomorrow. Georgina staying at friends. KEEP THE DOOR LOCKED AND DO NOT GO OUT AFTER 9:30 (curfew).
Mom xx
Anna placed the note on the countertop then dead bolted both doors and checked all the windows. If she was staying home alone tonight once Isaac had left she wouldn't be taking any chances.
She then began vigorously cleaning her gothic palace of a bedroom, which was a total pig sty, and once she was finished padded back into the kitchen and placed the cleaning material back in the correct drawers.
Sure enough once she tried to sit down for a second the doorbell rang. She pushed her hair back into a ponytail and answered it.
Isaac stood before her rather awkwardly, his hands pushed into his pockets against the cold and his eyes downcast. She stepped aside and allowed him to enter. "So, this is my domain, I guess." She said, gesturing around to the polished wood interior of the house. On closer inspection, most of the furniture was bashed and chipping and the paint on the walls peeling from years of overuse. At least it looked well-loved. "You hungry?" Anna shot over her shoulder as she padded into the kitchen. He followed her apprehensively; his towering frame compared to hers very much imposing in the small kitchen.
"Starved," he said, but his eyes looked hungry for something more than just food. Anna shivered in voluntarily. She then looked in the fridge. Seeing as she wasn't about to chow down on her mother's admittedly disgusting lasagna, she routed through the fridge and pulled out two cans of soda. She tossed on to Isaac who caught it effortlessly and sunk down into one of the kitchen chairs, toying with his hair. "Pizza, okay?" Anna asked.
"Sure," he replied, "I'm not fussy." Anna noticed he seemed a little out of breath, as if he'd just run a marathon. His face was pale which made the bruising stand out in full force.
"Are you okay?" Anna asked, opening the oven door and placing a peperoni pizza in.
"Yeah, just tired I guess," Isaac said with a weak smile that didn't quite reach my eyes, "My dad….he just- he's a bit of a nightmare. I'm sorry."
Isaac apologized for a lot of things that wasn't really his fault, Anna noted. She sank into the chair opposite him, not sure how to take his last comment about him father. She didn't want to ask him to define what he meant by "nightmare" because that would be prying and "A young lady should keep her nose out of other people's business" as her harsh tonged Southern grandmother had told her growing up.
"So, what were you thinking about doing for this history project?" she asked him, taking a sip of Coke and trying to look busy and not nervous. Isaac leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the top of the can.
"I don't know. But I don't want to do anything boring like the clock tower this year," he replied thoughtfully, "Maybe we should do some legends."
"Legends could be 'cool'" she said, adding air quotes and exclaiming 'cool' the way Miss. Rogers always did. Isaac laughed. "I mean, my families are one of the founders? Surely they'll be some family skeletons if I trace back far enough."
"I was thinking more on what Miss Rogers said," Isaac waggled his eyebrows at her, "About werewolves, maybe we should do that." Anna's face drained of color as she remembered the words from her meeting with Derek earlier; that's why you can't tell anyone. Because if you do, believe me. You'll know about it. And so will your family.
"Are you okay?" Isaac asked with a frown.
"I'm fine." Anna said, "But I don't think we should do werewolves. Half the people in the class will probably be doing it now."
She sighed in relief when he agreed with her. "Yeah, you're probably right, Anna moved to the oven and took the pizzas out to cool before returning to the table and sitting down next to him, "Maybe we should try and dig up your family's history. See if the Chambers clan is a bunch of maniac mass-murderers after all."
Anna hit him swiftly but he caught her pathetic fist and pulled her closer. She stared at him in stunned silence for a moment and then his nose touched her's, the barest of touches but it still sent tingles up her spine. He's going to kiss me, was all she could think before his lips crashed onto hers.
Her senses were on fire, touching his hair, feeling his lips on hers. He held the kiss for a moment and then bit her lip for entry. Teasingly, she denied but then he stood up and she was shocked into opening her mouth. He made a sound in the back of his throat like an untamed animal and shoved her open against the wall.
She could taste him now, sliding along in his mouth. It was beautiful, everything she had dreamed of from her first kiss and she could feel shivers racing through her body and wanted more, wanted to connection.
She was almost unable to let him go when he finally pulled away. "I have been crazy about you since the day we met." He whispered slowly in her ear. Anna could only stare up at him in shock and awe and relish and so many mixed emotions of lust, frustration and even anger bubbling up like a storm inside her.
"Anna," he said, his ocean blue eyes bewitching her so she was conscious of every movement, every breath. "Please say something."
"I-" she stammered, "You k-kissed me."
His broke into a smile and he nodded. "I did."
Although mentally wanting to kick herself for her earlier shallowness, she said, "Do it again." And he obeyed, wrapping her into a tangled, passionate embrace. His mouth searching hers, making her knees go weak with pleasure.
A scratching at the back door made them spring apart like they'd been hit by lightning. Anna froze. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and her face prickled.
Someone is watching us, she thought.
But all she saw outside of the kitchen window was the occasional strobe of fractured moonlight through the branches of trees that guarded her house, almost like blinking eyes.
"Cat?" Isaac asked.
That made Anna feel a little eased. It could just be Tybalt, messing with their minds but as if on cue, the feisty Siamese came into the kitchen and meowed loudly. "Guess that answers my question then." He said, panic rising in his voice.
Shadows shifted. Something was moving out there.
They both stepped forward together, and then . . . that same scratching. Tybalt hissed loudly at the door, screeching like a banshee. Then she heard something low and rumbling, like a growl, coming from the other side of the door and she stopped dead. Isaac continued.
"Isaac," she said, alarm rising as he dropped the deadbolt. "Please don't go out there."
"I'll be fine," he replied calmly, "What's the worst that could happen?" You could be killed by a monster, she wanted to say but he was already padding down the back porch steps and into the yard that bordered the forest. He yelled out into the night but it returned nothing to him. "Whatever it was," he said, striding back into the house, "It's gone."
Anna sighed in relief and returned to the kitchen table and handed him a slice of pizza. "So, Chambers family history it is?" she asked around a mouthful of peperoni.
"Agreed." He replied, shoving his own slice into his mouth.
Isaac was hovering at the door, as if unable to let him go. He bent down, catching her off guard and kissing her again. He still had the residue of pizza grease on his face but the kiss still took her breath away. "I was wondering," he began, "If you're not busy this weekend… maybe you could – we could-"
"Isaac Lahey, are you trying to ask me out on a date?" his cheeks flushed crimson but Anna only beamed at him.
"I guess, maybe a movie or something-? Horror? I mean, if you like it-"
"I love horror," she said, "Saturday, okay? At nine?"
"The curfew-!" he began but Anna cut him off. She reached up and planted a small but passionate kiss on his lips.
"Screw the curfew." She replied seductively and shut the door. Once it was closed she jumped up and down screaming with delight. Then she texted Carly.
Two minutes later as she was still smiling to herself, Carly's text flooded in. It read in bold, cap locks writing.
I AM SO COMING OVER TOMORROW NIGHT AND YOU ARE TELLING ME EVERYTHING! xxxxx
