A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while and I'm making this A/N short cause I'm super loopy rn from lack of sleep and pills. I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in a while and I want to give a shout out to two reviewers really quickly.

Firstly, JDrummond, I just want to say that you're awesome and you're invested enough in this story to PM me encouragement while I'm away so I just want to say thanks

Secondly, Guest, I am SO SORRY. I wanted to post before you left, but everything just got more and more hectic. But I'm hoping that I'll have this story done, or at least on the last chapter for when you get back so you have something to read.

Special thanks to JDrummond, Guest, Barayah, SME13, and Huntsman-in-the-snow for reviewing :) Thank you all so much. But I also want to thank my silent readers too cause you read this and you're awesome.

I need sleep so I'm done now, sorry if that didn't make sense

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers

Pep Rallies and Football Games

"Are you ready, Panthers?"

Chloe grimaced as the crowd around her erupted in a loud cheer that rivaled the ones that had been made in the past few moments. At this rate, she was going to lose her hearing by the end of the afternoon. She hated pep rallies. When the announcement had come on in the middle of her math class, she had thought that it had been a blessing in disguise. It had interrupted the teacher in the process of taking up the latest test that she had bombed earlier that week, so to say that Chloe hadn't been enjoying the class was an understatement. All the numbers made her head feel like it was going to explode and she couldn't concentrate in the class. Her mind was elsewhere. So when classmates started filing out of the classroom, she had no problem following them. Because if there was one thing that she knew, it was that anything was better than math.

She had never been so wrong in her life.

"I don't think you heard me." The boy who was speaking into the microphone had a mop of fire read hair on his head and a voice that wasn't unpleasant to hear. She had seen him with the rest of the popular kids. The moment that he started talking, the crowd around Chloe quieted down and it seemed as if everyone was holding their breath. "Because I know you can be louder than that. I said, are you ready, Panthers?!"

The crowd erupted in a—somehow—even louder cheer than mere seconds before. Chloe idly wondered if her eardrums would burst as everyone around her got on their feet to cheer and scream, a particularly loud group of girls beside her shrieked their hearts out. She was seriously considering stabbing them when Simon's chuckle reached her ear. "You look like you're ready to kill someone."

"If she doesn't, I will," Tori gritted out over the still cheering crowd as she pressed her fingers into temples. "Their voices are grating."

Simon rolled his eyes at his sister. "They're not that bad. Right, Chloe?"

"Sorry, what? I couldn't hear you over the blood in my ears."

Chloe saw a look of panic cross Simon's face before he caught sight of the look on her face. "That wasn't funny."

"I'm just kidding," Chloe smiled. "But it is pretty bad."

Tori smirked in triumph as Simon held up his hands in defeat. Chloe didn't pay attention to the rest of the conversation, her eyes wondering around the gym again. In all the commotion of getting to the gym and finding seats, she hadn't really been able to look around the gym. She had been lucky when Simon had pulled her out of the stampeding crowd and led her over to the front seats he had saved with Tori at the bottom of the stands. The gym itself was huge. It managed to contain the entirety of the student body along with faculty members, who were sitting among themselves as the pep rally had gone underway. The entire place was popping with black, red, and silver designs that ranged from the banners that hung over the walls right down to the uniforms that the students wore. The banners were black and red, respectively. Each had their own silver panther etched in the middle and she gathered that it was the school mascot. She had already seen someone in a ridiculous panther suit, sporting a red and black jersey as they ran around pumping up the crowd. But the thing that really caught her attention were the people in the middle.

Beside the podium where the redhead was shouting enthusiasm at the crowd, sat a strange group of people. On one side, there were two people. The first was a man who looked old with balding dark hair and glasses over beady eyes. His eyes moved restlessly over the crowd as if he were looking for something and for some reason, she hoped he never found it. The other man was much simpler, wearing a plain black jacket with matching shorts and a white shirt beneath it with a golden whistle hanging from his neck. A baseball cap covered his head and dark sunglasses covered half his face, but the dark that was uncovered seemed emotionless. On the other side of the podium sat what Chloe assumed was the football team. As she scanned over the boys, her brows nearly leapt off her face as her eyes locked on Derek in the front row. This was the first time that she had seen him today and this was the last place she thought he would be. Derek actually looked more annoyed than Tori and Chloe were combined, a scowl set deep in his face and deepening.

She said so to Simon and he snorted. "That's an understatement. He hates this stuff. All the noise gives him a headache."

Chloe's eyes widened as she remembered what he had told her about his powers before. I have better hearing than most. "Oh, god. All this must sound like… I don't even know. How does he handle it?"

"Practice. He had to get used to it, always going to my games. Plus, now he's the face of the team so he has to endure it even more so now."

"The face of the team?"

"Yeah, everybody is counting on him because he's the quarterback," Simon explained. "Not so fond of the pep rallies, but he deals with it. Mostly for Liz though."

"Liz?" Chloe asked in confusion, looking around. "Where is she?"

"She'll be out soon," he said with a bright, mysterious smile. "You'll love it, don't worry."

"All right, that's what I like to hear!" the redhead's voice boomed through the speakers around them. The crowd responded immediately with shuffling and silence as they all tried to quiet enough to hear him. "It sounds like you guys are ready to cheer our Panthers to another win tonight! But enough of me. Why don't you guys help me give our lovely cheerleaders a warm welcome?"

What's the point in quieting down if you're just going to continue to scream yourself hoarse two minutes later? Chloe thought bemusedly as another massive cheer erupted from the crowd that rivaled the past two. She was almost certain that her ears popped in the process. Beside her, Simon was cheering just as loudly as everyone else and even Tori was clapping. Shifting her gaze to Derek, she saw that his scowl had only gotten deeper as he glared at the redhead. The thundering of feet brought her attention to the far side of the gym and she looked up in time to see a crowd red and black blurs running in. Actually, they came in flipping. Chloe's eyes followed the rows of cheerleaders as they flipped into the gym in pairs, Liz leading the charge with Amber next to her. The crowd erupted in even more cheering when they finally stopped, all in different poses as the crowd went crazy. A sudden blast of loud music had her flying out of seat. Clutching her heart and flipping off a chuckling Simon, Chloe let herself be distracted by the cheerleaders' performance as her eyes instantly went to follow two girls that were flipping around. She was so focused on the girls that she didn't realize that Mila was standing beside her until the ghost started waving her hand in Chloe's face, which effectively stopped her heart.

"Sorry." Mila had to shout to be heard over the music. She didn't seem sorry. Actually, she seemed amused. "You should really pay more attention to your surroundings. I need to talk to you. Alone."

Chloe pinched her lips together to prevent answering. Just because no one could hear her didn't mean that it was okay for her to be talking to the air. That was a one way ticket to a mental hospital. Turning stiffly to Simon, she tapped his shoulder to get his attention before leaning in. "Do you know where the washrooms are?"

"Yeah, just outside the doors," he paused, leaning back to look at her face. "You okay?"

Chloe hesitated. I'll fill him in later. "Yeah, just got need to pee. Where exactly?"

"Uh, straight out the doors down there and then turn right and it's the second door on the left."

Chloe nodded before glancing over at the teachers. Most of them looked like they were really enjoying the show, though there were a few who looked like they were bored out of their minds. "Will they give me any trouble?'

"Who?" Simon's gaze followed hers. "Nah, they don't care. This goes right into lunch and most people don't care about anything else."

"All right, thanks."

Chloe ducked around him, giving Tori a brief explanation before heading in the direction of the door. She was glad for the cover that the crowd gave her as she walked to the doorway, Mila trailing at her feet. She was almost at the door when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she stiffened, glancing over her shoulder. Eyes scanning the crowd, no one was watching her. Everyone that she laid eyes on were focused on the girls dancing in the center. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching her. Letting her gaze move back to the cheerleaders, she almost chalked it up to being paranoid when she met an ice blue gaze with her own. In the group of guys that were sitting in the front, Liam sat upfront with Derek. His eyes were trained on her and the smirk on his face widened into a predatory grin. Chloe fought to keep her expression bored as she met his gaze before looking away and getting caught in Derek's green eyed gaze this time. Though his face remained a neutral mask, she could see his curiosity. She merely lifted a shoulder in a half shrug, giving Liam a quick, cautious look before she hurried through the door with Mila hot on her heels. As per Simon's directions, she turned immediately and headed down the hall until she saw the washroom sign. Pushing through, she quickly checked and discovered no one was there.

"We're all good," Chloe said with relief. She didn't realize how much pressure had been on her until she left the gym. Her head felt like it was a million times lighter now. "What's up?"

"So I went to the office," Mila started and that peaked Chloe's interest. So that's where you disappeared to, Chloe thought absently as she stared at the ghost girl before her. Today was the first time since Sunday that Mila had left her side and though it had been a relief to get her personal space back, she had also been a bit worried as well. "Or I tried to. It was like walking through sludge when I stepped into the reception area but I couldn't get into the actual principal's office at all. It was like there was an invisible wall keeping me out from all sides. And that's saying something because I can usually just walk through walls with no problem."

Chloe thought for a moment before nodding. "It must be a spell or something. I'll ask Simon about it."

"You do that." Chloe glanced at Mila warily. The way it had been said didn't strike Chloe as exactly friendly but she let it slide. Mila was just frustrated about not being able to get into the office. "Anyway, what I really wanted to tell you was that I overheard the secretary talking to the vice principal. They were talking about how excited they were for the first home game in football tonight and they couldn't wait to watch it. I'm pretty sure it was less about the football and more about the people playing the game. They never said names but they kept saying that two specific players were showing 'extraordinary potential', whatever the hell that means and that the principal was chomping at the bit to see them in action, which I thought was kind of weird—"

"Mila," Chloe interrupted sharply when it became apparent that the brunette wasn't getting to her point any time soon. "What's your point?"

"It means that everyone will be out of the office tonight," Mila said with a fierce grin. "The entire office will be gone. Do you know what that means?"

Realization dawned on Chloe's face. "We can get the files."

"We can get the files," Mila repeated, her grin only widening. "Today is the day we get those files."

Chloe nodded slowly, mind racing. On Sunday, Derek had explained that the office would be empty on Friday and vulnerable. But they had to be careful until then and make sure not to give away that they had hacked into the computer systems. In the beginning, she had been skeptical at best about the whole thing. There was no way he could know when the office was empty and they weren't stupid enough to just blurt things so important out. But as the week slowly went on, she had realized just how hard it was going to be to do that. Everything made her jumpy. A teacher would call her name in the hall on Monday and she had been sure that they had gotten busted. In actuality, she had just left her phone on her desk. It was the feeling that at any moment that she was about to be busted and, worse, caught by the people who wanted her dead that had her antsy over the entire week. That and the fact that Derek had refused to divulge exactly how they were going to get the files, just that they were going to get them today.

"I guess Derek was right," Chloe sighed in resignation. It was almost irritating how accurate the guy was about everything. "We should tell the others what you heard later."

"Yeah, about that… Are you sure that you trust them?" Chloe stared blankly at Mila and the girl hurried to continue, nearly becoming unintelligible while she spoke. "It's not that they haven't proved that they're trying to help, but… what do you know about any of them? Nothing, really, other than what they told you. Plus, don't you think it's kind of weird how he just knew the exact moment when the office was going to be empty for them to steal the files? Or how easily Tori was able to get a hold of the files that we have now? It's almost too easy. You—"

"I trust them," Chloe burst out suddenly and Mila cut off, watching her warily. "We're all on the same side."

"But that's the thing, Chloe! You might be on their side, but they might not be on yours."

Chloe looked away but not before the doubt in her eyes showed. It had crossed her mind more than once that she was being played. She wasn't actually a dumb blonde after all. It wasn't hard to see how perfect of a set up. Her old friends taking her under their supernatural wings to show her the ropes as they fight to keep her alive? Yeah, she could see it now. She was a screen writer who couldn't have written it better herself. She had watched enough movies to know what a set up looked like. But then again, life wasn't a movie. This wasn't something that she could just turn off and come back to later. This was her life and she knew the risks that she was taking and, for better or worse, she did trust them to keep her safe. She knew in her gut that they were all in this together from here on out and she wasn't going to spend precious time wandering if she should trust them or not when she was on the lookout for the person who was actually planning to kill her.

"I trust them, Mila," Chloe said again, her voice stronger this time. "I do. Besides, if they were the people hunting me, I'd be dead by now. Lord knows how many times Derek's had the chance to take me away with no one noticing."

Mila seemed to relax slightly before stiffening again. "Wait, what do you—"

"Oh, they're so hot!" a voice squealed from outside the door. Eyes widening, Chloe shushed Mila and quickly walked over to the sink to look like she was fixing her makeup. A second later, the girls who had been sitting beside her walked into the washroom. "—I mean, have you seen the muscles on them?"

"Oh my god, yes!" the blonde one squealed to brunette who had walked right past Chloe as if she wasn't there to stare into the mirror. "Did you see Liam? He's so drool worthy!"

Chloe flickered her eyes to where Mila stood and rolled her eyes. How anyone could find Liam Malloy hot was beyond her. The brunette nodded as she fluffed her hair out of her face. "He's hot, but he's not really my type. You can have him. I'm after the quarterback. Silent and mysterious with a sexy body."

"Yeah, but he's Derek Souza. You can't just go after him, Amber called dibs."

"Well, fuck Amber," the brunette said with an exasperated sigh. "She already called dibs on Simon, she can't have the brother too, Tracy. Plus, Derek is way sexier than Simon. He's got the attitude, the looks and he doesn't talk much so he must be a great listener. Simon's a boy, Derek's a man. And you know I like the older guys."

"Jeez, Cindy, you make it sound like he's in college or something! He hasn't even graduated yet," the blonde giggled. "Plus, he only hangs out with his sister and Liz anyway. He's probably dating her. And even if he isn't, how are you going to get his attention? I mean, even Amber couldn't do it."

"I haven't figured that out yet," the girl, Cindy, said with a pout as she pulled out red lipstick from her pocket. Giving a devilish smile to her friend, she leaned forward and pressed the red into her mouth. "But if it's a cheerleader he wants, I'll gladly be his personal cheerleader. In and out of the bedroom. Can I help you with something?"

In that moment, Chloe realized two things. The first thing was that she had been standing there listening to the conversation with an interest that left her confused. She chalked it up to being like watching a train wreck. It was horrible to watch but you just couldn't look away. Secondly, the brunette was talking to her. She must have realized that Chloe was eavesdropping instead of minding her own business. For some reason, the conversation had caught her attention and she couldn't stop listening. But that just ended up with her staring at the two girls dumbfounded while they spoke of the guy who had a worse attitude than she did, which was pretty damn bad if she said so herself.

"Hello? I'm talking to you," Cindy said slowly, as if Chloe was incapable of understanding. "Why are you eavesdropping?"

Chloe blinked at the girl before giving her the best wide eyed look she could muster with a fake innocent smile. "I'm sorry, I completely spaced. Did you say something to me before? I'm so sorry, I get distracted sometimes and lose time."

The brunette frowned, pocketing her lipstick before gesturing to her friend to leave. The moment the door shut behind them, Mila burst out laughing. "Oh my god!"

Chloe shook her head. "I can't believe they had that conversation. They're crazy."

"I think… you should… warn Derek… that he's… going… to get jumped!"

Mila could barely get out the words because she was laughing too hard. Chloe just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I can't believe they could talk about Derek like that."

Mila's laughter continued for another minute before she finally caught her breath—did ghost breathe? Something she would have to research later—and looked at Chloe. "What do you mean by that?"

"They said Derek was sexy, it's crazy."

Mila gave her a surprised look. "You're joking right? Derek's fucking hot!"

"Are we talking about the same Derek?" Chloe asked in a light tone, though she was mostly serious. "Because Derek Souza isn't sexy."

"Either you're blind or you're in denial because that boy is so fine that I'm actually jealous that you get to spend so much time with him. I would have jumped him if I were alive because, I have to agree with those girls, he's fucking hot."

Chloe rolled her eyes and waved off anymore comments from Mila, even as her stomach twisted unpleasantly at her words. "Okay, enough of that. I think I'm going to go back to the dorms to save my ears from your boy craziness. I'll see you later."

Mila pursed her lips but merely shrugged and vanished. Sending a quick text to Tori telling her where she had gone, Chloe made her way back to the dormitories in attempts to get some rest before she headed back to classes again. As she made her way back the way they had come earlier, her mind wandered over what had been said in the washrooms. She couldn't see how anyone could ever find Liam Malloy attractive. From his creepy looks to the way that he doesn't take no for an answer when it comes to asking her out, she couldn't see one appealing thing about him. Derek, however, was a different story. He wasn't the textbook kind of hot like Simon, who the actual embodiment of all-American good looks while Derek was the poster boy for bad boys everywhere. He rarely wore anything that wasn't dark with jet black hair covering his face and the brooding attitude that drove girls wild for some reason. Match that with his high cheek bones and the ridiculously long lashes that framed his bright green eyes, Chloe wasn't surprised that he was a catch in this school just like his siblings. She had watched countless people hit on Tori and Simon in the short time that she had been at the school. So why did the thought of Derek being hit on by those girls make her stomach tie itself in knots?

The feeling plagued her for the rest of the day, through lunch and all the way to dinner. It was an early dinner because of the football game, of course, and she found herself pondering thoughts from earlier as Derek and Simon joined the girls table with heaping plates of food in tow. She hadn't seen Derek since she had left the gym because he hadn't shown up for English today and she was starting to get antsy. She wanted to know what the plan was for the files. She had already told the others what Mila told her, confirming that tonight was the night to strike, but she was still clueless on the plan. Were they going to get them before the game? Were they going to get them during the game? How was he going to do that during the game when he was playing? Questions kept swirling around her head and she didn't know which one to ask first which left her sitting there, picking at her salad as she shot irritated looks in Derek's direction.

"Has anyone ever told you that it's rude to stare?"

The deep voice startled Chloe enough that she dropped her fork in her salad. Glancing over at Derek, she frowned as she realized he was staring at her. "What?"

Sighing, Derek shoved what looked like a barely eaten plate of spaghetti away from him. "You've been staring at me since I sat down. Why?"

"I haven't—"

"Yes, you have," Tori cut her off. "It goes faster if you don't deny things."

Chloe stared at her friend for a moment before looking back at Derek. "I just wanted to know what the plan is. For getting… everything."

Understanding crossed Derek's features and he nodded, scratching at his forearm absently. "You want to know how we're going to get in."

"Yes!" Chloe breathed with relief. "I mean, I can't really help if you don't let me in on the plan."

"That's fine. Because you're not going to get involved."

Chloe blinked at Derek for a moment before looking around in disbelief at the people around her. They were all avoiding eye contact in some way. Liz had taken up a sudden interest in her salad, Tori was scrolling through Instagram on her phone and Simon was staring at his brother with a set jaw. The only person who would look her in the eye was Derek and his face said that he wasn't joking. "What the hell do you mean that I'm not involved?"

"Exactly that."

Chloe scowled at the giant in front of her. "Like hell I'm not involved. I'm the target so why wouldn't I—"

"Ruin the entire thing by getting yourself caught? Go in and probably set off every alarm in the place by tripping over your own feet? Gee, I wonder why," Derek sneered and shook his head. "You have no idea what you would be doing."

Chloe's face turned red with anger as Simon jumped in to try to handle the situation. "Easy, D. A bit harsh, don't you think?"

"It's true, and if she's too stubborn to see reason, it will get everyone else caught," Derek gritted out as he kept scratching at his forearm. Chloe's gaze drifted down to watch the movement, scowl deepening as he continued to speak. "I'm not saying that she won't be useful in the future. I'm saying, for this particular thing, we need to be careful and we need as little people as possible. Plus, you're being watched."

"What?"

"You heard me." Derek's eyes met hers again and she saw something flit through them briefly. "You're being watched. So you need to be as normal as possible and know as little as possible so that you're not put on the spot to lie for us."

Chloe pursed her lips. It was a real reason and there wasn't really a reason for her to argue with him, but she could tell that he wasn't giving her the entire truth. Again. But this wasn't time to argue. They were in public and from the look on his face, he really believed that they were being watched. Something that she had feared but didn't want to give too much thought to. Nodding slowly in acceptance of what she was going to have to do, she sighed as she pushed her lettuce around. Her appetite was gone. "So what will I do while you guys are off doing whatever?"

"You do whatever you would usually do on a Friday night," Derek responded after a moment of thought. Chloe's eyes drifted down to his forearm again, which he was still scratching. His sleeve had pulled up slightly and she caught sight of what looked like the beginning of welts all over his arms from scratching too hard. Noticing her gaze, Derek yanked the sleeve down and dropped his hand. "Did you plan on going to the game?"

Chloe pursed her lips. She had never been much of a fan of football, but there wasn't anything better for her to do now that she knew she wasn't a part of the group stealing the file. "Yeah, I'll be there. Wouldn't want to miss the Panther's first home game."

Derek rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It's no different than our away games. I have to go warm up."

Picking up his full tray, Derek moved to leave and Chloe frowned. "You barely touched your food. Don't you need your energy to quarterback or whatever?"

Rolling his eyes, Derek dropped a hand to scratch his stomach. "Big lunch."

Without another word, he left but not before Chloe saw the light coat of sweat glinting on his forehead. Turning to Simon, she frowned. "Is he okay? He doesn't seem a hundred percent."

"He said he wasn't feeling so hot this morning," Simon admitted after a moment. "But Derek won't admit to being under the weather unless it's really bad. Like I'm pretty sure he could come down with scurvy and he would still try to play. He'll be fine though. He doesn't usually get sick."

Chloe nodded and the conversation turned to a lighter topic, but she could tell the something was weighing on all of them. She didn't ask. If they wanted to tell her, they would. But as they all parted ways, she was almost positive that something was going on that didn't have anything to do with the files at all.

An hour later, Chloe found herself on the bottom of the bleachers behind the players' bench with Simon sitting beside her as the game started. She didn't pay much attention at first, mostly because she didn't know how it was played, but after Simon explained the basics to her, she actually started to enjoy it like everyone else. Actually, that was an overstatements. There was no way that she could enjoy the game as much as the people around her did. Everyone was up on their feet as they shouted, stomped, and cheered throughout the entire thing. When halftime came around, Liz and the other cheerleaders ran onto the field to dazzle the crowd with their moves. There were a few cat calls, but there wasn't anything that Chloe hadn't heard earlier that day. About halfway through the show, Tori showed up with a dazzling smile and a duffel bag slung over her shoulder as she made her way down the sidelines. However, instead of looking for where they were sitting, she made a beeline to where Derek was resting on the players' bench. Leaning in to whisper something in his ear, Tori handed the bag over as Derek nodded before she turned on her heel and strutted over to where Simon and Chloe were sitting. What was in that bag, Chloe wondered as the cheerleaders finished and ran off, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers. As she passed, Liz paused to take Derek's water bottle and took a big swig before picking up the duffle bag that Tori had just given him and taking it to the change rooms with her.

The Panther's won, no surprise in that. They had been up two touchdowns before halftime and crushed the opposing team after. They hadn't stood a chance. What seemed like the entire school cheered and there were shouts of what seemed to be an invitation to a dormitory party. That's about when everyone raced back to the dorms while the cheerleaders and players alike heading to the change rooms to grab their things. Chloe, however, made no move to leave the bleachers and when Simon and Tori asked if she was going to join them in getting drunk out of their minds in celebration, she passed. It was a nice night and Chloe just wanted to enjoy it for a bit before having to go back to her room. As she watched her friends walk away, she made her way to the edge of the forest where the trees stopped and the football fields begun.

It had been a while since she had been outside at night. Almost too long to remember the last time she had done it. It had never been allowed in Buffalo. Plus, there was nowhere that she could just look up and see the stars in a city like that. The one thing that she enjoyed about being stuck in the middle of nowhere was that she could see all the stars and the moon for once. It was a habit that she had gotten from her mom, while she was alive, and that she had carried on. Whenever there was a full moon, they would try to get outside and just enjoy the purity of it. It had always made her feel… whole inside. Somewhere in her book, she remembered reading about how the moon gave power to necromancers. It was light in the darkness, it had said, just like necromancers are like a light in the darkness to ghosts. The thought brought a smile to her face as she remembered what her mother used to call her. My little moon. So gentle, yet so bright. The thought made her shiver, wrapping her arms around herself in a makeshift hug as if it would keep the warmth that the words brought.

A sudden darkness covered her eyes and Chloe frowned, staring up again. The trees were covering her view. Without thinking, she reached up for a steady branch and hoisted herself up. Perching herself precariously on the branch, she reached up again and swung herself another level up to where the moon was now poking through the trees. One more level, she thought as she swung herself up again and the moon broke free from trees. Sighing in contentment, she leaned back against the trunk of the trees and basked in the moonlight. A feeling of warm pasted through her body and for what felt like the first time in a long time, Chloe felt relaxed and at ease with herself. She knew that she shouldn't be doing this and she knew that there was someone out there trying to kill her, but at this moment everything else fell away. She could feel the power radiating around her from all the living things as well as the natural around her and it warmed her insides to the point where she felt almost drugged by it.

She was just drifting off when she felt it. A surge of power so intense that she nearly fell out of the tree. Steadying herself with an outstretched hand, Chloe looked around. It was strange but it felt like someone was calling for help. She couldn't explain it but when another wave hit her again, she knew. Someone—something—was in pain. Gut wrenching, unbelievable pain. It was like nothing she had ever felt before Waves and waves of it were flowing out towards her and she felt almost lightheaded at the sensation. She had barely gotten a taste of the power, but it was so strong, so raw, that it left Chloe dizzy with its intensity. Taking another deep breath to center herself, she tried to focus on reaching out her energy to whatever was in such pain. She didn't know if she could do it, but they needed to know someone could hear their pain. That someone cared. The pain kept coming however and after a few more moments of trying, she wasn't able to stand it anymore. She had to find the source.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Chloe muttered to herself as she sung herself out of the tree and landed on the balls on her feet. "This is a stupid idea and it's going to bite me in the ass."

Closing her eyes, she imagined opening herself up to the power and was hit hard by another wave of agony that nearly made her knees buckle. Steadying herself against the tree beside her, Chloe tried her hardest to keep from falling over and let the power pull her in. She didn't even realize she was moving until she opened her eyes and nearly ran into a tree. She kept creeping along the edge of the woods until she was standing in front of the agony and when it hit her, she felt it to the point of her own pain. She had never felt something so strong before and all she knew was that she needed to help. But there was a part of her holding her back because she was so scared of what she might find. Did her fear outweigh their pain? No. She moved forwards into the woods, carefully hiding behind the trees as she made her way deeper and deeper in. She had just lost sight of the field behind her when she reached a clearing of where the moon was flowing bright into the center of the clearing. But it was what was in the center of the clearing that really caught her by surprise, a gasp ripping out of her as another wave of pain crashed over her.

"Derek?"

So don't hate me for making it a cliffy? It's long, I know. Just over 6000 words without A/N's so it's insane. Did you like it? Too wordy? I know there wasn't much dialogue in this sometimes, so let me know if there's anything that you want more of.

R and R, if you please. Time for bed. Nighty night. Y'all are amazing. - Brii