AUTHOR NOTE: im bringing in a character from my previous darkest powers fanfic: necromanced in this and future chapters. That is not in the original Kelly Armstrong books. William Trip, who I introduced as Derek's uncle. He cares deeply for Derek, because he looks eerily like his brother, Derek's biological father. And that's about all you need to know about him.
I knew that this wasn't going to be pleasant, but at least we were home.
"Here goes nothing, gang." Tori said as she crept up the drive, slowly as possible.
Derek groaned as he tried to sit up straight his hand flying to his chest. The second our tires hit the gravel road the front door swung wide open and people began filing out. Tori put the car in park as Kit and Lauren ran towards us, their eyes wide with anger and fear.
"WHAT were you kids thinking?" Lauren shouted flinging her arms in the air, a bit of hysteria in her voice.
We all scrambled out of the car, Derek biting his lip to keep from cursing as he used his injured arm to hold himself steady. I got out of the car just in time to see Myrtle Husht hopping off the front porch with the energy a 70plus woman should not have.
"That's easy one Lauren, they weren't." Kit growled eyeing Jack who cautiously got out of the passenger seat. "I can't believe that you deliberately put yourselves in danger like that." He looked at Derek who towered over him. "And look what happened to you."
"What? Is there something on my face?" Derek hissed rolling his shoulder. Lauren rushed over and started inspecting the burn mark on his shoulder. Derek swore as she put pressure on the entry point. I grabbed his arm as he lifted it. I was certain he was back in control, but I didn't want him to accidently push Lauren away.
"Derek!" Kit hissed rubbing his forehead. "This isn't a joke!" He took a step back and looked at each of us in turn. Lingering on Simon who was leaning against the car his eyes half opened, almost asleep again. "Who else is hurt?"
"Besides Derek, it's just small cuts and bruises all around." Tori said walking over to the other side of the car to put herself between her father and Jack. Kit was about to say something his eyes focused on Tori.
"Kit." Myrtle spoke up her voice carrying over the short distance making everyone's head turn in her direction. "Maybe it would be best to continue this conversation inside?" She looked around at the descending darkness. Kit rubbed his neck trying to release his tension. Simon was the first to head towards the house. His hands in his pockets, he didn't look at or acknowledge Myrtle as he passed her on the porch.
"Right everyone, inside now." Kit said motioning to everyone. Everyone filed past him but Tori wasn't fast enough. "Hold it. Who the hell are you." He said grabbing Tori shoulder and looking past her at Jack.
"Dad, it's okay he's-." Tori started but Myrtle held up her hand.
"It's all taken care of Kit." She rushed pushed away Kit's arm away from Tori and away from Jack. "Mr Martin is a member of one of the paranormal agencies that the SCC has taken control over, the Manhattan Elite. His boss reported him missing half an hour ago, she'll be happy to know that he's here and in one piece." She said patting him on the back as she talked.
"I—Wha?" Jack looked at her taken aback. "SCC? How did-."
"I make it my business to know everything. Especially when it comes to you paranormal hunters. You know the old saying; keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Now don't do that face Kit," She snarled looking at him and shaking her head, "for the time being Mr. Martin here works for me, at least till I hand him back over to his boss. So enough of the hold up, everyone get inside."
Tori didn't hesitate grabbing a still confused Jack by the hand and dragging him up the steps. Kit starred after them, concern and anger flashing across his face. Myrtle looked at me as I passed her, Derek's arm around my shoulders as I helped him up the steps. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth became a thin line, she was obviously angry with me. I returned her glare without blinking.
Derek started to walk towards the living room where everyone was starting to converge on, when Lauren pulled him back. "No, you just got shot! What you need is medical attention. This can't wait. Myrtle brought a healer with her; we need to get that bullet out." I started to walk away but Derek grabbed my hand and dragged me along with him to the end of the hall.
"Chloe, you don't need…" Lauren started to say but I gave her a wide-eyed look shaking my head towards Derek. Silently trying to convey to her that Derek wasn't in the mood to negotiate. We walked into Kit's office, a man with neatly combed blond hair smiled at us next to the desk in the center of the room. He was arranging a white cloth with medical instruments laid out on the desk.
He waved, a wide smile taking over his face. I didn't even know this guy but there was no way I couldn't like him. He couldn't be any older than Lauren, but his face was still retained boyish qualities, except for large laugh lines around his eyes. He had on the most ridiculous outfit too, nice dress pants with flashy suspenders, and a brightly stripped tie. Sunshine poured out of this man as he bounced on his feet towards us.
"Hello! I'm Ethan! Your friendly neighborhood witch-doctor." He reached out his hand to Derek expecting a handshake. Derek just looked at him. "Ohhhhkay! Let's get down to business!" He said clapping his hands. He nodded at me smiling and not skipping a beat, he patted an empty spot on the desk. "You don't know how lucky you kids are that I agreed, last minute, to come here with Myrtle. If not you would have had to deal with that bullet for a few more hours. But I couldn't miss all this excitement now could I?" He smiled and pushed away Derek's hand to get a better look. "Ah well look at that." He face got a bit more serious as his eyes darted around Derek's injured side. He didn't really look at the bullet wound first, instead put pressure on the Derek's shoulder massaging it. "A few damaged muscles tendons." He mumbled to himself.
He then shifted his attention to Derek's shoulder hissing at the charred flesh. "Nasty burn."
"He was bleeding too much. Tori thought it would help." I said looking the strange man up and down again, my mind was still trying to process the bright colors with great difficulty.
"My dear, there's nothing I can't heal," he winked at me and then shrugged. "…that's untrue…let me rephrase. I can heal the damaged muscle tendon and any damaged skin, get that bullet out…but I won't be able to heal this burn completely. Smart way to stop blood loss, I must say, but because it was made with magic it will unfortunately, scar." He giggled. "I guess there goes your modeling career right, lad?" Derek shook his head, his face blank.
Lauren reached for a needle and I looked away immediately. Lauren noticed my reaction and I saw her eyes narrow accusingly in Derek's direction. "Derek, this isn't going to be pleasant. We're going to try to knock you out for a bit, but it won't last. Chloe should probably leave."
He glared at her but nodded, before letting go of my hand. "Are you going to be okay?" I asked.
"Yup." He smiled, kissing me on the forehead and then gently shoving me towards the door. I say gently but it was enough pressure to knock me of my balance as I stumbled towards the door.
"Get going little lady. I think with our combined weight and muscle, me and Lauren will be able to hold him down." I was a bit hesitant until Lauren pulled out another needle and started looking for a vein in Derek's arm. I jogged down the hall but stopped immediately when I heard Tori raised voice from the next room.
"...but do I do them? NO! Let me remind you what I HAVE been through!" I rushed into the living room in time to see Tori stomping her foot and holding her hand up to count on her fingers. "I was sent to a mental home because the old whack jobs YOU worked for thought I was unstable and decided the best way to fix the problem was to shove pills down my throat. I ran away from same mental home because they started killing kids who were getting out of control. KILLING THEM! My own mother tried to kill me. I WATCHED as my mother tried to kill my best friends, my own brother, your son. And I watched her…. die." She took a deep breath. "I am almost nineteen years old, and my life has been hell after new hell for almost all of it. And you still insist on calling me a kid."
Kit looked at her uneasily, we all did, and his mouth opened but no words came out. He looked at Simon who was practically asleep on the couch un-phased, and to Jack who was sitting next to Tori and was now leaning as far away from her as possible. Myrtle was leaning on the doorway near where I was standing her eyes focused on Tori, poised and ready if anything were to happen.
Minutes passed and no one spoke. Kit just starred at her trying to think of something, anything to say. His face had lost all the color from his previous anger. I watched her nervously. Tori and anger didn't mix well, and she had been holding in a lot, I could literally see her anger washing off her in waves. Kit had triggered something, something she had been holding onto for a very long time.
I noticed Tori's hand shaking, saw the faint buzz of electricity that she was trying to hold back. Not good. When Tori was pissed, her powers became out of control.
"Tori." I whispered gently, and as calmly as I could, going over to her and grabbing her hand. I winced; it felt like I had been shocked from the static in the carpet. She looked down at me her breathing returning to normal. She nodded.
"Sorry." She mumbled back. "I'm just sick of being treated like I'm a kid." She looked at Kit, her eyes much softer. "Dad, it was an accident. I was the one who convinced everyone to go, but we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Kit starred at her for a few more minutes before nodding and taking a few steps back, his anger obviously gone. Kit was never the person to get angry for long, and if there was one thing he always keep in check, it was how he treated Tori. He nodded.
Tori sat down and looked at the floor. I looked from her to Kit and then to Myrtle. "If anyone's to blame it's me not Tori. The Demon is after me, and it's because of me those ass-holes attacked the fair. But we should be focusing more on how they found us and if they're going to do it again, don't you think?"
"For once Chloe, you are right." Husht smiled, coming into the room. "She's absolutely right. This Demon is becoming more and more active that means it is about to make its move. We need to be a step ahead." She patted Kit on the back. "You can play overprotective father in a bit. But as Chloe said the blame is more on her, so don't get to mad at Miss Victoria. This is why I am here, and to put it bluntly a vengeful Demon is more a concern then your daughters behavior."
A loud crack erupted from down the hall, which made everyone jump. I stood up a wave a fear rising in my chest. I didn't think I could handle more than one psycho today, and defiantly not here. Simon's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight his attention focused on direction of the noise.
"It's okay!" Lauren's voice came from down the hall instantly. In unison, everyone let out a slight sigh of relief.
"What the hell was that?" Kit shouted at her.
"…Derek broke your desk." Lauren shouted back. Kit starred in the direction of his study. I couldn't help it and neither could Tori or Jack. We all started laughing, each turning away from Kit and Husht to try to hide it. Simon slowly fell back into his chair and immediately returned to sleep.
"Now I think it's time to get some rest." Myrtle said patting Kit on the back. "We can deal with this tomorrow, and I have a few things I want to address with you in private immediately."
And with that she took Kit out of the room rambling on about more wards he should put on the two houses. But Kit was adamant about keeping everyone in the same place, and that this farmhouse was big enough for everyone. We waited, but Kit never came back into the room, so we assumed that we were free to go.
Tori jumped up the minute Kit was completely out of earshot. "That went a lot better than I expected."
"Don't worry, by tomorrow Kit will have thought of a way to punish us. Just you wait. He'll make you knit scarves for homeless people." I smiled going over to Simon and shaking his shoulder. After awhile he looked up weakly. "Bed time, sport." He sat up slowly looking around like he had no idea where he was. "You okay?" I asked worried.
"Yup." He said his eyes still half closed. "Never using that spell again, can barely keep my eyes opened." Simon yawned standing up and scratching the back of his head.
I hesitated. "Simon, about that spell you used. At the end wasn't it-."
"Chloe, I'm really tired. It can wait till morning." He said without looking at me, and he staggered up to his room.
"I think some of Derek is rubbing off on him." Tori said her face matching my concern. "Speaking of, you better go check on Wolf-boy. Figure out why he felt inclined to break dad's favorite desk."
…
The floorboards outside Tori's room creaked and woke me up. I sat up slowly adjusting my position to the door. The small cot that Kit had put in Tori's room for me wasn't situated for me to have a clear shot to the window or any means of needed escape.
Tori of course, didn't hear any of it. I sat poised on the edge waiting for a signal that would send me into fight or flight mode. That's till I heard a faint whisper outside the door. I recognized it instantly.
Derek.
I moved towards the door as quietly as possible, although I think Tori would've slept through me stomping. Derek was leaning on the doorframe when I peeked out. His wounded shoulder wrapped tight in bandages and his arm in a sling to avoid him using it.
"Hey." He said, his eyes glowing.
"Hey." I smiled back.
…
SIMONS POV
The sunlight breaching through the curtains is was what woke me up. My head was heavy as I tried to lift it, but a sudden wave of nausea just brought it back to the pillow. My whole body ached, it felt like I had been in a bar fight with the Terminator, and lost.
For a brief moment as I tried to remember what had happened, my mind went blank. A stab of fear shot through me as I struggled to remember something, anything. I shot up nearly falling off my bed, my hands flying to my forehead.
Flashes of the previous day came slowly and dim at first; a car ride, crowds, junk food, Chloe and Derek laughing. And then they started to become more vivid; Screams and running, flashes, gunfire….
Had it all been a nightmare?
I looked over at Derek's empty bed, or worse had it all been true…
Jumping out of bed, I raced down the hall and ran straight into someone. I stumbled backwards, for a second I thought it was Derek and I felt nerves let out a sigh of relief.
"Oi! Sorry!"
The voice didn't register, and I looked up more clearly and it wasn't him.
"W-who…who the hell are you?" My voice came, weak at first.
"Uh… Jack. From yesterday, I was just going to use the bathroom…"
That's right, I remembered instantly, The ghost hunter/soldier guy that Tori had found. "Oh right sorry…Have you seen Derek?"
"Uh…no, not since I helped him clean up the broken desk last night." Jack replied worriedly.
I pushed past him leaving him standing there confused. I knocked on Tori's door, when no answer came I opened it slowly just enough to peek in. There was an empty cot next to her bed. I recognized the blanket almost instantly as Chloe's favorite. She wasn't in bed either… But they had to be all right. I remembered him breaking the desk last night. So if he was well enough to clean up his own mess then he must be okay.
Dad had his back to me when I came into the kitchen. All the energy I had a moment before was gone, my head was fuzzy, my feet heavy. "Morning son." Dad mumbled over his coffee. "Were moving today so I suggest getting some breakfast."
I grumbled my displeasure as I slouched into one of the chairs at the table. "Is that where Derek and Chloe are then? Packing things over at her house?"
"What?" He looked over at me confused.
"Derek and Chloe. There not in their beds."
His cup hit the counter with an audible crack as he swore. "I've been down here since 2am. There's no way they got passed me."
I laughed. "So your saying…that a Werewolf who easily can jump out of a two story window has no way of getting past you, here in the kitchen. Dad, teenagers have been using windows to break curfew for generations. If Derek wanted to be alone with Chloe then he could easily sneak out and back in without you ever knowing." I smiled reading the nutrient value on the back of a cereal box.
"He…Are you saying him and Chloe are-"
"I never said that!" I shot up looking at him in disgust. "Gah Dad!" But that didn't stop him from running up the stairs towards the bedrooms. I shook my head after him before banging it gently on the table, trying to wake myself up. That's when a faint flicker of light caught my eye. It was coming from the basement nearly opposite me. "Dad!"
His head poked out from the stairway. I leaned down the basement and caught a glimpse of two heads curled up on the couch. "Their watching a movie, so stop jumping to conclusions." I went down the basement steps as he came back down to the kitchen mumbling how if he had been right he would have skinned Derek's hide.
Jumping to conclusions. I sighed, looking at the two passed out on the couch. Completely innocent, more like disgustingly innocent. Derek still had a potato chip in his hand, the bag almost completely empty on Chloe's lap. I ran my fingers through my hair as I looked at his bandage shoulder. Too close. The sound of the gun going off was still ringing in my head. It had been ringing repeatedly in the back of my mind since I had woken up. Every time, it made my skin crawl.
If Derek had died…Well I didn't want to think about that. But If Derek hadn't been there, then Chloe would've been the one bleeding out on the field. And Chloe wouldn't have survived that, she was to fragile. Derek was always the hero. Throwing himself in the way to protect us. It had always made me sleep easier knowing he had my back…At least it use too…
The corner of my mouth twitched. Chloe was still wearing my shirt. I don't know why I felt happier seeing her in it. But Derek's arm around her quickly changed that. A sudden wave of anger washed over me, catching me off guard. I shook my head and took a few steps backwards.
What was wrong with me? I looked back at the two confused, but that only fueled the unwanted anger. No. I growled to myself. I had to get away as far from them and as fast as I could. This anger wasn't mine, but It was real and I could feel it hot in my chest and part of my mind was demanding some kind of action.
I ran up the steps three at a time out of the basement so fast I tripped on the top step.
"Simon? You okay?" Kit said looking over at him from the kitchen table where he was flipping through files. Concern flaring to his face as I fell to the ground hard. It hurt like hell, but I stood up right away, biting my lip.
"Tripped, that's all." I said quickly, brushing my knee and getting as far away from the basement as possible. The morning air hit my face like ice-cold water. I jumped off the front porch and ran towards the shed in the back yard. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself my whole body trembling. My fear slowly began to shadow the anger, but was becoming just as dangerously out of control.
I reached the shed and barricade myself inside, falling to the ground instantly. Oh god, what was wrong with me? I felt a dark weight press heavy on my chest. Out of nowhere I suddenly remembered the spell I had cast last night…I never even remember practicing that spell. I knew the words yes, but it takes me months of practicing to master a spell and the one I had used was so difficult….
But it had worked. With only a few words…I had killed that man, the one with the gun. The anger I had felt, that I had been feeling….it was so intense. I closed my eyes and forced myself to fight it. Images of Chloe, Derek, Tori , Laruen and Kit flashed in my head. But it just made it worse. Something was screaming at me…Shouting, cursing and demanding me to be angry….
I didn't want it. I wanted it to go away. But the more I fought the stronger it was becoming. I could feel the dark veil covering my vision and thoughts. Something was now laughing at me, telling me that it was useless and that it had already won….
What is wrong with ME!
….
CHLOES POV
Everyone was moving about the house in rush, packing the house up for the move. Kit had agreed to relocate to a safer facility were Myrtle guaranteed stronger protection. I was helping him pack up his
study. His broken desk discarded in a pile in the hallway.
"Chloe, move those books please." He said pointing to a stacked pile I had separated. "Oh, and one more thing." Kit came over and leaned in my ear, the sudden closeness made me jump. "I don't want Derek to hear." He said as quietly as possible, so that Derek who was upstairs clearing out his closet wouldn't be able to eavesdrop in. I nodded and leaned in closer. "I called William. He's flying in today to make sure Derek's okay."
I looked at him worried, mouthing the word 'sure'.
"Don't tell him, he'll just get upset." Kit smiled. He was about to say something more when Ethan rushed in, making us both stop.
"Oh hello Chloe. So nice to see you again!" he rushed past handing Kit a file. "I found that file for you on that Manhattan project or what not. Can't stay, lots to do." He smiled rushing out of the room.
Both me and Kit watched him as he literally skipped out of view. "There are no words to describe that man." Kit said shaking his head, taking one more worried look in the direction he had gone. Just then, Simon walked past, a small box in his arms. Kit frowned when Simon gave us a halfway glance; there were deep shadows under his eyes, before walking silently away. "Uh…Chloe would you mind talking to him? I would do it, but he just won't talk to me anymore."
I took a deep breath, a wave of anxiety washing over me. I tried to make my words sound more confident, but they still came out shaky and unsure. "No problem."
…..
DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS! READ MORE !
Review please. Sorry for the long absence. Work overloud at school became out of control. And to put It bluntly….I've been locked in my dorm room covered in paint for the past few months with no free time what so ever….there I said it…
Review please!
