We Can Hurt Together

by VaderWasFramed

Lainey has just set a new personal record for the stupidest thing she's ever done while intoxicated. She's woken up with a hideous tattoo before... but never a bite. And her friend is telling her it's a werewolf bite. How will she cope with the consequences? Will she flourish? Or will this finally break her, once and for all?

11. Chapter 11

Loved all the reviews! Thank you guys so much! Keep them coming! As a reward, and as an apology for the delay, here is a pretty long update.

I'll say one thing and then you can start. I've been SUPER addicted to the game Night In The Woods lately. Several scenes/lines are inspired by the dialogue and some scenes from that game :) Just pointing that out. Okay. Happy Reading!

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"Don't stop!" Derek yelled.

I doubled over and panted loudly, sweat covering every square inch of my body. My chest burned and I shook my head. "I can't! I… This… this is impossible!"

"You can! You have to!"

I panted out a grunt, my voice breaking, and my hair shook as I shook my head. It had grown enough that my sweaty bangs kept getting in my eyes and irritating them. Irritably, I gave a pathetic, frustrated pout as I pawed at my sweaty hair that was now too long to stay out of the way but too short to tie back.

"You need to focus," Derek rumbled, annoyed at my diverted attention. "You keep stopping. Don't stop!"

"I can't focus!" I practically hissed. "I'm gonna shave my fucking head!"

Derek's face changed to something akin to horror. "No you will not!"

I laughed loudly, unable to quite catch my breath enough to give it its full effect, and shook my head again. "What makes you think you get…" huff, "a say?"

"If you shave your head, I'll shave mine," Derek suddenly threatened, making me stop altogether and gawk at him.

I took a shallow, unsatisfying breath before darkly murmuring, "You wouldn't?"

He raised a stubborn eyebrow. "I won't if you won't."

I grunted in frustration. What a shitty, manipulative pact. He thinks he can control me so easily? I'll wait until he's asleep and shave his head first, let him see just how easily the tables could turn. But the thought of Derek without hair was disconcerting. I think all of his power is kept in his hair. I can't be the reason he loses his power. "Deal. You know I'm not eighteen, right?"

"What?" Derek's face scrunched at the randomness of that question. He stepped out of the shade of the cart I was currently pulling by a length of chain tied around my waist, and the sun didn't do his complexion any favors. But it did make me realize his hair was dark brown instead of black, as I'd originally thought. "What does that have to do with moving the cart?"

"Nothing! I mean, how can we be married?" I flapped my hands and gestured vaguely. "You have to be eighteen to be married!"

"Seriously?" He pointed angrily at the cart. "We don't have all day for you to keep bringing this up!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, are my questions about our marriage inconvenient to you?"

"Yes! As a matter of fact, they are! It's already almost noon and we still have to prepare the carts to hold you two tonight."

"What's wrong with where they're at?" I breathlessly sighed, wiping at the sweat that dripped down my brow. I gestured at the one I was pulling and its proximity to the woods. "Seems fine to me."

"If either of you were to bust out you'd run straight into the woods. I need to move them closer to the warehouse so it'll be easier to capture you if that happens."

"If we're at risk to bust out why don't you just keep us in the warehouse to begin with?"

"Keeping you in the warehouse will be a last resort," He said. "Being outside so you can actually see the moon is an important part of the transformation. Especially the first one."

"Did you change my date of birth on the marriage certificate?" I prodded.

Derek stared at me for a long moment. Long enough to make me shift uncomfortably and almost enough to make me change the subject. As I opened my mouth to do so, he started towards me.

I stood straight and arranged to dodge a hit. I wasn't prepared for him to come right up on me, nearly chest-to-chest, and reach around me into my pocket. His scent overwhelmed me and suddenly all I could focus on was the smell of his skin, clean and warm and close, and my heart was in my throat and I put a hand on his chest but instead of pushing him away I found myself clutching his shirt. I had to force my hand not to pull him closer.

I blinked in surprise when I saw my license in his hand. He turned it to face me but I kept my gaze locked on his and he said, "Listen closely, because this will be the first and only time I will ever offer this."

I blinked again at the intensity of his stare. He lifted the card and the edge of the plastic glinted in the sun.

"Do you want me to get rid of this?"

I gasped and lurched forward to grab his arm and yank it down, prying the card from his fingers. "Don't you dare," I growled, and Derek watched me closely and his face lost some of its edge. He nodded once.

"Are you ready to work?" He asked, and instead of snatching his arm from my grasp like I expected, he took advantage of the tight grip I used and pulled his arm towards him so I was leaning in until our noses were close enough to touch. "Or did you have more questions for me?"

"I'll get to work as soon as you stop distracting me, Hale."

"Distracting you?" He smirked, and the abrupt change threw me off guard. "Is that what I've been doing?"

"You know exactly what you've been doing," I glowered, suddenly feeling panicky and put on the spot.

I let go of him and tried to step away but Derek just blocked my path, apparently very interested in this unusually evasive behavior I tried to hide. An expression I've never seen him wear before changed his face then. Like he was caught up in a game he couldn't resist, his lips curled into this most infuriating grin and he lowly baited, "What's the matter? Am I bothering you, Hale?"

Confusion. Stunned confusion, and I looked at him to check if I'd heard correctly—but yes, that smug face meant he had in fact just deliberately called me Hale—I lunged forward and Derek took a graceful step back. When I went to pursue him, the chain snapped to attention around my waist and I was yanked to a sudden stop like a dog on a leash. Derek seemed to thoroughly enjoy this position.

"Oooohh," I growled. "When I get my hands on you—" Lifting my leg, I leaned into a step and grit my teeth against the massive weight of the cart behind me. The chains strained and the metal groaned loudly, and there came a stuttering click as the whole structure inched forward behind me.

As I moved, Derek moved, and we made slow progression along the track. "What were you going to say?" He made a show of walking around in front of me, showing how he could make several exaggerated passes while I'd yet to fully take a step, and shook his head with a loud sigh. "You're going too slow, Hale. Come on, I really don't want to have to make Isaac finish your job, but if it hits three o'clock and you're still not finished, I will."

xxx

I'm starting to think Derek has a fetish. At first, I teased him endlessly over the plethora of restraints he'd claimed to gather specially for full moon. But the more he revealed the more I started to feel like the jokes I made weren't as ridiculous as the things he had actually obtained.

"Does every jacket you buy have to be leather?" I smartly quipped, holding the black leather straitjacket aloft to make my point. Derek sent me an unimpressed glare and I said, "Up until now it's basically been a joke, but now I'm saying this out of genuine curiosity. Are you into bondage, Derek?"

"During the full moon I am," He smoothly replied, totally unaffected by my line of questioning. This encouraged me.

"But I mean… are you into it? Sexually?"

Finally, he dropped his hands from the walls of the cart where he'd been securing a set of chains. Derek turned to raise his eyebrows at me. "Are you really asking me what I like?"

I smirked wolfishly. "Evidently."

He stared at me for a long moment. Finally, he was apparently determined to make me feel as uncomfortable as any rational human being should have been under these circumstances, because he cocked his head at me and his eyes crawled down me for a moment before focusing back on mine, and my confident smirk flickered. "Are you into it?"

For a second I forgot how to breathe properly. Suddenly I was flushed bright red and I made a big show of scoffing, looking away. "What? That's—you're dodging the question."

"If I wanted to restrain you, do you really think I'd need to use chains?" He asked, his gaze unflinching even in the midst of that provocative question. I cleared my throat.

"Well what else would you use?"

He glanced away for a moment like he thought the question was stupid. "My hands…"

Stubbornly, I persevered, though I was now way out of my depths. "But then you couldn't use your hands. How would you…"

He raised a single dark eyebrow and I found that I couldn't speak.

Oh, my god. I tried to keep all emotion off my face but if his deeply amused expression was anything to go by, I was failing miserably. He seemed extremely content at just how quickly he'd managed to flip the script and he stood slowly, making my heart race as he advanced upon me, and I actually had to stop myself from taking a step back when he moved forward.

He didn't stop until he loomed over me. "Lainey," He murmured, eyeing a strand of my hair that was tickling my eyebrow. "Would you…" He leaned closer, until our shirts brushed together. "Hand me that blowtorch beside you?"

I held my breath and blinked rapidly. Sure enough, the blowtorch sat on the table beside me. It was well within both of our reach, but he was instructing me to pick it up and hand it to him. What the fuck was he doing?

I narrowed my eyes and he raised his eyebrow, as if he couldn't possibly understand why I would be provoked by such an innocent request, or daring me to admit I felt pushed too far—but then he would win.

I opened my mouth to tell him to get the damn thing himself when the door far off across the classification yard was opened.

Isaac. I knew it was him by the long, hesitant gait. I went to step away but Derek's arm reached up and he grabbed the wall beside my face, blocking my path.

Slowly, I turned to glare at him through narrowed eyes. The corners of his mouth stretched into something that wasn't quite a grin and his eyes flickered tellingly to the blowtorch. He quirked his brow higher. "Please?"

Isaac's footsteps were close now—he was across the yard and it would only be a matter of time before he stepped up within view. I snatched the blowtorch up and thrust it at Derek's chest with a growl. "Only because you asked so nicely," I hissed, and he seemed to want to laugh.

He smothered an amused grin when I pushed his arm down and stepped around him to scowl viciously at Isaac as soon as he stepped within view of the cart.

"Whoa," Isaac said at my face. "What?" He glanced at Derek. "What did I do?"

My face burned hotly, like I was standing inches from a raging bonfire. Derek practically sang with unshed laughter behind me. I could feel his gaze on the back of my head briefly before he addressed Isaac.

"Nothing. The full moon makes us… touchy."

I whirled around and if it were possible I would've breathed fire onto him for his choice of words. Derek turned his attention onto Isaac and to an outsider it would seem he was ignoring me, but I knew his lack of response was intentional because he knew it was worse than acknowledging my outrage. "Any trouble at school?"

Isaac wasn't an idiot. He picked up on the tension and likely suspected there was more to it than a simple 'full moon' excuse. He let it go. "Failed a pop quiz in Chemistry," He said, and Derek rolled his eyes.

"That's not quite what I meant."

"Did you attack anyone?" I supplied, knowing the way Derek's mind worked. "Did you get into any fights or feel the need to—" I paused and forced myself not to look at Derek. I was going to say rip anyone's clothes off. But I didn't. Derek's presence weighed heavily beside me and I cleared my throat. "Attack anyone?"

Isaac's eyebrows twitched down. "You said that twice."

"It's an important question," I quickly dodged. "We can take that as a no?"

He shrugged. "I broke a beaker in class today. That's why I failed the quiz. Had to pretend I dropped it." He looked between us and paused. "Why… did you?"

Derek snorted and I grit my teeth. "Derek always drives me insane." I crossed my arms with an insincere smile and tilted my head. "Nothing unusual there."

Derek changed the subject. "Well we've almost finished preparing this cart. There's another one that will be for you, Isaac. It's done. If we get done early like I think we might, I'll have you two run the obstacle course until sundown."

I groaned, earning a disapproving glare from Derek, and Isaac noticed the restraints that were covering the table nearby. "Whoa… aren't these…"

"Kinky?" I finished with a knowing smirk. I could sense Derek rolling his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose behind me.

Isaac glanced away from Derek, to me, to the table. "I was going to say excessive, but now that you mention it that too."

I laughed and nodded. "Hell, yeah."

"No," Derek countered, sounding much more mature than me. I scowled. "If we're lucky they'll be just enough to keep you two inside these carts tonight."

"So that's the grand plan?" I asked, going to sit on the edge of the cart. I let my legs dangle over and swung them back and forth leisurely, tilting my head back in the warm sun. "Gonna tie us up real good, but then what? You batten down the hatches and keep watch?"

Derek considered it. "More or less," He agreed.

"Mmm," I mused, kicking my feet. "Sounds boring."

Isaac spoke up. "Won't you need to restrain yourself too?"

I snorted and Isaac frowned at me. I mouthed the first sentence with Derek, as he said, "No, my job is to make sure you idiots don't kill someone. I'll be fine. This isn't my first full moon."

"Okay, but how can you expect to keep us both under control?" Isaac pointed out.

I paused with Derek and then mouthed along again as he said, "I'm the Alpha. It's my job."

"We should make signs for you," I suggested. "So in case for the next full moon, if we have a new beta, and they ask those same questions, you can just hold them up."

"Just one that says, 'I'm the alpha' would probably do it," Derek suggested in a surprisingly jovial tone.

Isaac snorted and I grinned and nodded. "Done."

Derek shook his head. "Since apparently Lainey is finished helping for the afternoon, do you want to grab that piece of metal so I can weld it to the wall, Isaac?"

I waved him off and put my head back to let the sun warm my face as Isaac obediently moved around me. I figured since I moved the both damn carts all the way across the yard, the least Isaac could do was hold a piece of metal in place.

xxx

That night was significantly cooler out than the day had been. Without the warmth of the sun the breeze was biting. It cut straight through all the layers of clothes I wore and chilled me.

I shivered slightly and stepped deeper into the cart. Derek had already welded Isaac in his cart for the night. Now, it was my turn.

It was hard to imagine this failing, but Derek was practically frantic by his standards. He easily leapt onto the cart beside me. "Go sit against the wall," He said, moving from chain to chain and testing them each with a rough pull.

They clanked noisily and slammed against the wall. It was loud and I felt a sense of dread and forbearing settle over me. Seeing it now, feeling the inexplicable, tense charge in the night air, feeling my own emotions that were so intense that I was about to burst at any given second, I knew that Derek hadn't been exaggerating this whole time. He really couldn't have overstated the effect the full moon had.

It's like the whole day had been leading to this point. Like I'd been strapped into a roller coaster and we'd been gradually climbing higher and higher, closer to the point of no return, and now I teetered at the top of the hill. I could see the end now.

I settled against the wall. The locks were heavy and cold on my skin and Derek tightened them as much as he could. The ones on my wrists held my arms apart. I yanked at them but it didn't seem to do any good. Next was the chain that wrapped across my torso. Again, it was snug, and no matter how much I wiggled it held.

"You should like, go into construction," I said, which said a lot about how weird I felt since I just used the word like in a completely useless context for what may have been the first time in my life.

Derek noticed it. He stopped snapping locks into place at my feet and looked up. "What? Why?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Honestly I just felt the need to say something to fill the silence." Because I was steadily growing more and more unsure, as my emotions continued to climb and something close to unbidden and unwarranted anger started taint everything I felt. "Will it always feel like this?" I asked, my voice gruffer than I'd intended.

Derek studied me for a second. His gaze fell and he nodded.

I snorted. "Reassuring."

His hand still grasped my ankle as it'd been while he restrained me, but now he softened his grip to one that was more comforting. "I'll teach you to control it."

That seemed like an impossible feat. It was all I could do to sit still. Even as I thought it, I realized my arms were pulling against the chains at the wall. I stilled them and held my breath for a second. "I've never been a very fast learner," I practically whispered.

His hand was warm against my ankle as he turned his palm to click the lock into place. "Don't fight it. It'll hurt more. I'll be here, but this is something you have to do on your own."

I took a deep breath and nodded, feeling like my skin was crawling and like the longer we waited to less control I had over my actions. My leg jerked because I was struck with the overwhelming urge to get out from Derek's reach. "Okay. Hurry up, hurry up!"

It was another two minutes before he finished chaining me in place. He stepped away, and I was free to struggle against my restraints in vain while he closed and locked the door.

I could smell the metal as it heated and melted, smell the burning material and the heat of the sparks. The wind shifted and it howled as it snuck through the cracks that Derek had yet to seal and my heart raced.

Involuntary grunts kept escaping my lips and I found it was difficult to keep still. Panic and anger clashed together and produced a frantic sense of urgency I couldn't shake, no matter how hard I tried. The chains clicked and thudded against the wall as I struggled against them.

"Derek," I called. "Derek, stop!"

The welding continued and suddenly I was breathing too fast.

"Derek!"

"Stop fighting it, Lainey!" He called. "It's—"

A flair of pain flashed through my head and I couldn't suppress a surprised, agonized growl. I was uncomfortably hot—too hot, like I was sitting in a window with three layers of winter coats and a thick fleece blanket covering my face and I couldn't catch any fresh air and I was suffocating and it came on so fast.

There was no real warning. It was sudden and panicked and overpowering. The chains were choking me and I couldn't get them off no matter how hard I tried, and pressure built in my head until I was screaming in panic and in the very, very back of my mind there was a single, rational thought.

Derek's gonna be so pissed.

The chain on my wrist snapped.

xxx

A wall blocked my path. It was just like that obstacle course, except there would be no climbing or going around this one. I was enclosed in a tight space. I needed out and I needed out now because there was space to breathe and run outside and I needed to run but there was a wall.

I ran at the wall and it shuddered. I did it again and again, the warning yells from outside the wall only cheering me on. And it didn't take long before the wall broke and I tumbled into the ground and the night sky greeted me with open arms.

I twisted out of the reach of hands and ran—ran away from the red glowing eyes and the grabbing hands that tried to chase me.

I was free. Free was good. And I was gone.

xxx

I woke to the smell of blood. Sharp and potent, the metallic, rusty scent pervaded my grogginess and by the time I sat up I was alert. A dry leaf fell from somewhere near my face and fluttered to the ground.

I was on the concrete floor of the warehouse. There was blood all over me. It stained my clothes and covered my hands and… heavy, sick dread pooled in my gut.

"It's yours." Derek's voice startled me and I gasped and sprung to my feet.

When I swayed, he was there to catch me. He put me upright on my feet and kept a tight hold of my arms. "Wha?" I managed, disoriented. "What happened?" I looked around.

We were in the office. It was… what time was it? It felt like I'd been asleep for weeks.

"Before I had to chase you out of someone's backyard and herd you back here, or after?"

I paused and blinked, my brain still moving sluggishly. "Um… before?"

His face twitched in irritation.

"No," I quickly corrected. "After?"

He rolled his eyes. "Are you feeling okay?" He pushed me back and turned me side to side, checking for something. Injuries?

I looked down. "I can't feel my feet. What happened to my shoes? And my socks?" I wiggled my toes, which were covered in dirt.

He sighed loudly. "I have no idea."

"Ugh," I pouted. "I really liked those!"

He scrunched his face. "You're taking this… well."

I considered his point and patted myself down. Then, running a hand over my hair, I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think a lifetime of addiction has me oddly prepared for this lifestyle. Believe it or not, this is not the first time I've woken up covered in blood with no memory."

He looked like he couldn't quite believe it, but he had to ask. "What happened?"

I smirked. "Absinthe. I guess I really wanted to go to bed and when no one would come with me I decided to swing an axe around. Where's Isaac? Did he bust out too?" I asked, looking around.

Derek slowly let me go, seeing first that I would stand on my own. I only swayed slightly but otherwise found that not only did I have no headache, but instead of throwing up, I was hungry. Starving, actually.

"You should sit down," he advised. "You're going to be exhausted today."

"Really?" I bounced on my feet and stretched out my arms. "I feel fine."

"You shouldn't."

I had to stop to take a breath, and my head rushed. "I do."

"Really?" He asked, skeptically. "Would you want to run the obstacle course, then?"

I gave him a horrified look and he smirked in satisfaction. When had he traded in his glare for a smirk? I scowled at him.

"Sit down, Lainey. I'll get Isaac out of the cart and we can go to the diner."

I gasped at the promise of the diner and submissively plopped on the ground. "Hurry up!"

He snorted. "I would suggest changing clothes, unless you want to be forced to answer some very uncomfortable questions."

"Oh." I looked dumbly down at my ruined clothes. It looked like I'd gotten in a fight with a tiger, and… lost. I sighed heavily and Derek advised me to take it slow as he went to retrieve Cornstalk from wherever he'd passed out.

I trudged down the stairs. The door to the classification yard shut and I wondered just were exactly Isaac had ended up last night. I mused about potential spots as I slowly made my way down the steep stairs, around the obstacle course and through the cart. I stopped to take a breath in the doorway of the cart and looked up.

It was well into the morning. The sun was high again, and it was especially bright in the warehouse since there must have been fewer clouds. The seasons were changing.

A random thought struck me. I wondered if Ray could see the sun wherever he was, or if they kept him locked up tight in some damp cell, far, far from the sun and everything pleasant or fresh. I hoped so.

With a hampered mood, I sighed heavily and dragged myself to the trunk. My clothes were truly shredded. I knew my jacket was ruined. I knew my pants were, too. They came apart in pieces as I peeled them away from my skin.

I winced at the feeling of the dried blood that flaked away and fell to the ground like little horrific sprinkles. "Nightmare sprinkles," I muttered, scattering them with my bare foot. "Crap…"

I turned around. Just because I put a fresh change of clothes on wouldn't hide the fact that I was still spotted with blood. It was all over my hands and wrists and across parts of my torso, some spots clinging in my hair.

The cooler was running low on water bottles. I stood up when there came the sound of the door opening again, and before I had the chance to really compose myself the boys were already down the stairs and within sight. The thing about the door to the classification yard? It was kind of high up, and kind of directly in front of me.

I squinted my eyes at the light that streamed in.

Isaac made a noise of surprise and embarrassment that was cut short by Derek shoving him back out the door. It slammed shut, and we were once again trapped in the dim morning light that streamed down through the windows.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Derek growled. He turned his back but I felt the full brunt of his ire even with only half of his face in view.

I lowered my hand from where it'd been blocking the sun. "Avoiding uncomfortable questions?"

"I meant change in the office, you idiot!" He boomed.

I laughed. "Why are you so upset?"

"You can't just strip naked in the middle of the warehouse, Lainey!"

"Why? Does this bother you?" I asked, tilting my head. I put my hand on my hip and Derek's temper seemed ready to boil over.

"It bothered Isaac!"

"He didn't seem bothered," I goaded. "You seem bothered."

"I am bothered!"

"Good!" I exclaimed. He whirled around and my instincts were to cover my self, and my hands twitched but I clenched them into fists and glared at him defiantly. His eyes burned into mine and I felt my chest and neck grow hot with a blush, but pretended it wasn't happening. "Then think of this pay back."

"Pay back!?" He exclaimed. "For what?"

"The blowtorch!"

He paused. I saw understanding flood his features as soon as the memory came to him, how he'd tried so hard to make me uncomfortable, and I think he looked at my neck, which I knew from experience was probably flushed with red spots of embarrassment. I clenched my jaw. "We can't do this, Lainey."

"Do what?" I asked, crossing my arms. "What is that we're doing?"

"You have to make everything a competition!" He threw his hand out. "Look at you! This isn't—"

"Fair?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, it's fair. It's very fair. You've been doing this same crap to me lately and you know it. At least I'm honest about it. All you have to do is admit it and I'll stop."

"I was going to say appropriate. It's not appropriate."

I let a grin play at my lips. "What about me have you found thus far to suggest that I care what is and is not appropriate?"

A muscle in his jaw jumped. His nostrils flared, and I watched him clench his fists. I couldn't believe he was even continuing the conversation. I couldn't believe he was still standing there. Through his teeth, he said, "I'm leaving—"

"Really?" I asked. Derek glowered at me but his gaze never wandered any lower than my neck. Irritated, I grabbed the water bottle I'd set on the crate beside the cooler.

"What are you doing?"

Wordlessly, I unscrewed the bottle. I lifted it up to him. "Cheers," I mocked, and took a drink. I was doing it to emphasize how casual I wanted him to think I felt doing this, to screw with him and really unnerve him, as he had done to me, but the second the water hit my tongue I realized I was in fact parched.

I tipped the bottle back and it crinkled as I squeezed it and didn't stop until a third of it was left. Then, I dumped some on my hands and began to clean the blood from them.

I kept going until the bottle was empty. I grabbed another one and when I looked back at Derek I realized he'd turned around again at some point. The door rattled as if someone was opening it and he snatched it shut. "Don't!" Derek exclaimed. "Not yet."

I kept up the show long enough to rinse the majority of the blood from my skin. There were still stains left but for the most part I was clear of any lingering, obvious traces, and I shook myself to flick some water off.

"Are you finished?" He growled, his head turning slightly. He had his fists pressed to the door and he leaned against it with his head ducked down.

I brushed the hair from my eyes. "Yes—"

I barely got the word to pass my lips and he yanked the door open and darted through it, slamming it shut behind him. Alone, I stared at the closed door and listened to Derek grumble at Isaac about waiting for another few minutes for me to change. Isaac asked what happened and Derek growled.

I shook my head and dressed.

xxx

This was too good. I get now why Derek does it all the time. No wonder he was always stripping his shirt off in front of people. He could barely look at me now without his gaze eventually wandering.

Every time I caught him, I smirked, and he scowled and looked away. It made me feel… giddy. Powerful. Silly, I know, but there you have it.

It was starting to grate on him. He hadn't spoken much since we left the warehouse. Isaac was many things but I wouldn't say oblivious was one of them. I would, however, say that he was terrible at keeping his mouth shut.

"So does that happen… like, a lot?" He wondered aloud, waving a speared chunk of pineapple around on the end of his fork.

Derek turned to blink at him, his eyebrows knitting together. "What?"

Isaac's eyes trailed over to me and he cleared his throat. His fork dropped to gesture below my face. "The—nakedness. Does she do that a lot?"

I rubbed my lips together and shrugged, deferring to Derek.

He took a moment to put as much force behind the response as he could, his eyes boring into mine. "No."

"Oh, fuck's sake," I rolled my eyes. "Both of you can relax."

Isaac looked mildly curious about what I had to say but Derek just looked incensed.

I looked away from Derek. "It was to make a point," I told Isaac. "Derek knows what I'm talking about."

"What is she talking about?" Isaac asked, looking away from me to study Derek, who slammed his drink down.

"Ignore her," He finally cracked. I sat up straight and Isaac's eyebrows raised as he tried not to look at me. Derek slid his plate away and changed the subject. "I have a plan today, and you two aren't part of it. You need to train. I'll be away from the depot until late tonight. Try not to burn the place down, it'll be a pain in my ass to find somewhere else to lay low."

With that, he smacked a couple of bills down on the table, closed his wallet, threw me one last, potent glare, and got up from the table. Isaac and I watched as Derek threaded through the morning rush and escaped onto the street.

"It's kind of hard to ignore her when she's naked," Isaac replied to Derek's now empty seat, apparently stuck on that little detail.

I offered him a shameless grin, crossing my legs. "So what do you want to do today?"

He blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Um—" He looked around. When he turned back, his eyes were bright yellow and he was trying really hard to focus on my eyes and not let his gaze wander.

I frowned at him. "Hey!" I snapped my fingers in his face, making him lean back and bat my hand away. "Snap out of it, Cornstalk!"

"Hey—" He blinked and his eyes were back to their normal blue color, significantly more annoyed than they usually were. "I'm good, I'm sorry, I'm good."

I shook my head and popped a french fry into my mouth. "Wanna go fuck some shit up?"

He hesitated. "Uh… sure?"

"Angie!" I called. The girl in question turned away from the counter she leaned across and stopped mid-conversation with Antonio to look at me. I waved her over and she sped-walked to our table. I pointed down at the bills Derek left. "Will that cover a bag of bread rolls?"

She frowned. "You hate the rolls here."

"This is true," I swiftly nodded. "Answer the question."

She rolled her eyes at my bluntness. "Yes."

"Sweet! Bring us a bag and keep whatever change is left."

Angie cringed at Isaac. "Sure you wanna be friends with someone who gives shitty tips to her favorite waitresses?"

"I don't think I have much of a choice—" He flinched when I kicked him under the table.

"Dude!" I exclaimed. "You're supposed to have my back!"

"Okay! Okay…" He threw a five-dollar bill onto the table and I beamed. "Everyone happy?"

Angie smiled sweetly at him. "You're way too good for her."

I rolled my eyes. "I would have contributed!"

"You still could," Angie pointed out, unimpressed.

I scowled at her. "Don't get greedy."

She snorted pocketed the cash, and went to retrieve the requested rolls.

xxx

As I walked along the tall bridge and Isaac followed behind me, I carried the bag of rolls under my arm. The park was still familiar to me, and I recalled the last conversation I had when I was here. It'd been on the phone with Sheriff concerning Ray. How things had changed since then.

Families were out and about. People were exercising in groups and I stopped us to watch a dance class of women being instructed by a tiny, energetic, muscular girl with a high ponytail.

"Soccer moms," I said, pointing out how they all had similar haircuts. "Does that come free at salons when you turn thirty-five? Do they start handing out AARP flyers and giving you bad blonde why is my son on the bench highlights?"

Isaac laughed. "Oh, oh, I got one, okay… uh, hold on."

I waited with an amused grin as his looked at the group of middle aged women wearing bright tank tops and sports shirts with their kids' numbers on them.

He nodded and put his hand out. "Okay, okay, when one of them goes to a car lot do they automatically get shown minivans and do their keys come with complimentary cartoon family window stickers?"

"And they come to Zumba class so they can gossip about the neighbor's scary teen who they caught smoking weed in the backyard last week."

"And they giggle about Shemar Moore and Mark Harmon."

"That silver fox," I snorted. "And they all wear denim Bermuda shorts to the PTA meetings, and afterwards they grab margaritas and always end up asking to speak to the manager."

"And they get mad at their husband for buying new sports cars without asking when that money was going to be put towards their kids' college funds."

"Ahhh, middle class suburban life. How many of them are divorced, you think?"

"Oh, at least half of them," Isaac nodded. He paused and looked at me. "Hey, are you okay with not knowing where Derek is?"

I considered the question as we started up the path towards the bridge again, taking a breath. "Well, I mean, if it's important he'll tell us. Why? Does it bother you?"

"Sort of," he admitted. "Yeah. I mean, we just… last night was…" He trailed off and went to stand against the railing of the bridge. "I don't know. I have questions. And he just took off and who knows if he'll be ready to answer them when he comes back?"

"Like what?"

"Like… what happened, for one. I woke up face down in the train tracks this morning. How did I get out of the cart? Why were you in the warehouse but I wasn't? What will we do next full moon? I wasn't ready for that. I'm not ready for any of this! He said he would help!"

"He's busy," I dismissed. "He's not ignoring us, Isaac. I…" I sighed. "Look, I kind of fucked with him this morning, all right? He's just pissed off right now. He'll be back and he'll answer your questions. Relax."

"Why are you so casual about this?" He said. "None of this is normal and you're walking around naked and—throwing bread to ducks in the park?"

I paused from tossing another chunk of roll into the water. The ducks quacked frantically and converged on the single piece of bread, and I handed him a roll.

"Dude," I said. "Take a breath. Take a roll. And take advantage of the free time we have right now. Because in a few hours, Derek will be back, we will be sweating our asses off begging for mercy."

"I thought he knew what he was doing," Isaac grumbled.

"Don't you trust him?" I asked. "I mean, what did you think this would be? Boot camp?"

"No," he defended, tossing a chunk of bread far off in the water to an outlying duck that was floating alone. It looked around for a moment before craning its neck down to retrieve the piece. "I don't know what I thought. Is he alone?"

"Yeah," I frowned, suddenly growing defensive for reasons I couldn't fully realize. "Is that what this is about? You're disappointed there's not a chain of command? What are you waiting for, counselors with clipboards? You thought it'd be like signing up for summer camp or joining the lacrosse team?"

"No!" He reared back and threw a roll as hard as he could. It went far over the trees at the edge of the water and disappeared.

"Whoa," I muttered, and Isaac sighed. "I really hope that pelts someone on the top of their head."

"Crap." Isaac rubbed his face. "Was it painful for you?" He abruptly asked.

I stopped shredding a roll to look at him. He seemed sheepish, like he wasn't sure how I'd respond but he was hoping I'd say yes. "Painful?" I considered it and looked down at the pile of crumbs under my hand. I brushed it over the railing and watched them scatter across the water. "Not really. I mean, sort of, at first. I felt sick more than anything. Like the worst nightmare I ever had. Sort of like what I think it would feel like to see a tornado coming. There's no running from it, and you can try to hide but you know it's going to plow straight over you and all you can do is clam up and wait till morning."

"That's what you did?" Isaac asked. "You clammed up?"

"I think so," I shrugged. "I don't really remember. But I wasn't in control, that much I know."

"I chased someone," Isaac said.

I sat up and dropped the bag. It dumped out the rolls and some fell into the water, but I didn't look away from him. "Seriously?"

Isaac watched the ducks below and nodded. "Yeah, it was weird."

"Who?"

He shook his head. "I don't even know. All I remember was them running, and feeling like I had to catch them. It was the most important thing to me. I could tell they were scared and it was like… I didn't care. Catching them was all that mattered."

"Whoa," I looked down. "What happened?"

"Derek," He said, looking at me. "He caught me and we fought and somehow we ended up back at the depot. After that it's all a blur. I woke up this morning and—"

"Hey, Lainey," interrupted someone. I turned and saw a rough looking woman. "Where's Kelsey? She didn't show up to hang last week."

Isaac looked between us with interest and the woman eyed him warily. I stepped in front of him slightly. "She's dead."

The expression on her face made me look away. "Shit… are you serious? That's… that's awful. What happened?"

I shrugged and looked down at the water. "Dumb ass OD'd at a house party," I lied. I grabbed Isaac's arm and pulled him back. "Hey, stay safe alright? See ya around."

"Yeah, stay away from Johnny," She said. "Kelsey owed him some shit. He's gonna be looking for her."

"Tell him she's dead!" I exclaimed, pushing Isaac down the bridge.

"Alright," The lady said, putting her hands up. "S'the truth, I guess."

"Bye!"

She waved us off and I grabbed Isaac around the elbow to continue dragging him down the path.

"Don't look at her," I said.

"What? Hey, she's following us."

"Shit," I muttered.

"Lainey, what's—"

"Run!"

I took off and Isaac cursed before joining me. We cut across the grass and started down the hill we'd previously climbed, my boots catching the high, persistent weeds and sliding across soft muddy ground.

"Where are you—"

"Come on!"

We were gaining on the group of soccer moms. The instructor caught sight of us and stopped to frown, her hand up in warning, and as the women turned to look over their shoulders we barreled right through the middle of them.

I vaulted over three of their step-stools and Isaac tripped and nearly fell over one. I grabbed onto his arm to catch him and we tore out of there as fast as we could, high-pitched, offended exclamations following us the whole way.

"Down there!" I said, pointing up the road. "Hurry!"

xxx

We didn't stop running until we came along the parking lot of an abandoned store at the edge of the downtown.

Isaac slumped over on the ground and sprawled across the pavement, groaning from exhaustion.

I sputtered out a laugh and he huffed at me, grinning. Slowly trudging towards him, I fell to my knees and collapsed on the sidewalk beside him. "Why… was… she… chasing," Puff, "us?"

"Drugs," I responded in a sardonic tone. "They're a helluva thing."

"Huh?" He blew.

"Ah, drugs? You know, the narcotic kind? I think Kelsey owed her and her boyfriend Johnny something. And she, uh. Was high on them. Couldn't you tell?"

"She couldn't sit… still. And she talked really… really loud. Is that? What it's like to be… high?"

I shrugged. "You never tried it?"

He shrugged back. "Why are…" He wheezed and uselessly to catch his breath. "Why are you not… panting more?"

"I'm panting," I sighed deeply. "But I guess that wasn't as bad as the runs Derek makes me do."

"Well stop it," He grumbled. "You're… embarrassing me. My pride… is threatened."

"Your pride is fine," I waved off. "It's your ego that's damaged."

"Is there… a difference?" He asked, this time the pause more due to his skeptical tone than to his being out of breath.

"Pride is like a sense of fulfillment. Being proud of something. Ego is your self respect."

He huffed. "Wow. Never thought if it like that."

I reached over to pat his knee. "That says a lot more of you than me."

He snorted. "What's this place?"

I looked over at the empty, dusty store. "I think it used to be one of those dumpy donut shops." I brushed hair out of my eyes. "You know, the one that was run by a Christian couple? Keystone Shoppe, I think it was called."

"Yeah!" Isaac exclaimed. "It was pretty… okay, I guess."

"Mostly the congregation of their church kept it in business. They couldn't keep up with the times. They fell with the rise of the cronut."

"Cronuts are weird."

"They're hip and in demand."

He looked at me from the corner of his eye. "This shop didn't fail because of the overwhelming demand for cronuts in Beacon Hills. I think it's because the husband died from a stroke."

I elbowed him in the leg. "Yeesh. My story is better."

"It was a peaceful death, I think. Anyways. Donuts are either amazing or they're horrible."

"Like pizza."

"Exactly," He nodded. "And this shop could only make good plain, glazed ones. There wasn't enough variety. It was cheaper to pick a box up at the grocery store."

"True."

Isaac paused and sat up to sit beside me, peering up at the dusty, dirty window and the broken sign with some of the letters torn off. "What are we doing here, again?"

"I dunno. Wanna break in?"

"What?" Isaac stared after me as I pushed up from the sidewalk and approached the door. "Wait, seriously?"

I grinned at him over my shoulder. "Did you have Mr. Binglsey for second grade?"

He frowned and slowly stood to join my side. "No."

I cupped my hands and tried to peer through the crack of the newspapers they'd covered the inside of the windows with. "He went to their church. He would bring boxes of donuts every time the whole class got an A on our math tests. And for Thanksgiving, we drew those weird little hand-turkeys and he brought them here to hang up in their windows. Remember?"

"No, I had Mrs. Jones," He said. "She always made us watch documentaries about Abraham Lincoln."

"You were in second grade," I frowned.

"She focused a lot on the Civil War that year. Did you know Lincoln had crippling depression?"

I smirked. "Cool. Mr. Bingsley would have us watch VeggieTales a lot."

"Dude, that's a religious show. I think that was like, illegal," Isaac muttered. He grumbled when I reached down and pried the door open, busting the lock. "Sort of like this…"

"Nah," I waved off. "I didn't mind. I liked the songs."

He lingered in the doorway when I slinked inside. It was smaller than I remembered. The display and the counter were to our immediate right, and not nearly as high up as I thought it would be.

It was all empty now. Some of the glass was broken out of the displays, suggesting that they'd had trouble with people breaking in before, and the floors were covered in dirt. I thought it'd only been out of business for about a year but now that we stood there and I saw the state of disrepair it was in, I thought it must have been a lot longer than I realized.

"Ugh!" I put my hands out. "Keystone George! What have they done to you?"

I was talking, of course, about the shop's mascot. It had been dismantled from the wall behind the counter and was now partially covered in a tarp. But you could still see his cowboy hat sticking out from under the faded green fabric.

I went to yank the tarp off and Isaac winced loudly at the broken, battered anamorphic animal. "What the hell is it supposed to be?"

"It's a… you know! Keystone George!"

"Is it a horse?" He wondered. "It has really floppy ears if it's a horse."

"I'm pretty sure it's a goat?" I guessed. "Don't look at him!" I threw the tarp back over him and tried to block him from view. "He's hideous! They've ruined him!"

Isaac smirked. "This is upsetting you more than I thought it would."

I patted the tarp over the hat and sighed. "Who would just leave him here?" I sniffed indignantly. "Like a used napkin."

"How is it…" He shook his head. "You know what? Never mind."

"Keystone George, we will never tell anyone about what we saw here today. Isn't that right, Isaac?"

He blinked slowly at me, and then looked down at the tarp covered goat-head. "Uh… no way. I'm dying to tell everyone I know that I broke into a donut shop and spoke to a statue goat head this weekend."

"See?" I said to Keystone George. "Nothing to worry about! He's too embarrassed to even acknowledge this happened. We all are."

"Okay, great. Can we go now?"

I stood there and stared down at the tarp. "What if we…"

Isaac frowned at me. "What?"

I looked up at him. "Isaac… I know that I just said I would never tell anyone but I think I've officially changed my mind."

He raised an eyebrow. "That was fast."

"Let's take him back to the depot!"

"What?" Isaac burst. "No way! Derek will freak out!"

I grinned. "Help me carry him!"

"Lainey, no!"

"Aw, come on!" I said, wrapping my hand around the tarp. "Just live a little!"

"This isn't living! This is theft!"

"Crime buddies!"

"No way!" He exclaimed. "This is ridiculous!"

"Oooohhh," I teased. "No, that's okay. I get it. You're too scared. That's fine."

"I'm not going to jail for stealing a statue head!"

"It's cool, I get it. Probably wouldn't make a very good story, anyways. We have better things to do."

Isaac stared at me. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Not until my last dying breath," I shook my head. "And then I'll come back to haunt your grandchildren about it. 'Your grandpa was a coward, Timmy,'" I said, using a cliche ghost voice. "Your grandpa was a cowarrrrrrd!"

"Fantastic." He slowly joined me and reached around the other side of the large head, grabbing it under its ear for the best grip. "Let's just get this over with. How far is the depot?"

I beamed at him and grabbed the other side. "Nine blocks! Barely."

"Fantastic."

We lifted him and due to our combined strength, found that it really wasn't too bad. "See? Easy!"

Slowly, we backed up. It took us a few steps to find a rhythm that worked. I steered and he did most of the carrying.

He stopped us. "Wait!"

"What, what?" I stumbled and almost dropped my side. "Isaac! Don't do that!"

"If I do this you have to swear not to call me Cornstalk anymore!"

I threw my head back to roll my eyes and groaned loudly. "Isaaaaaac."

"Nope, that's the deal," He said, bending down to set his side down. "Either you agree to it or you carry this thing back by yourself." He crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders. "It's your call."

I glared at him for a long moment. He raised an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes again and sighed. "Fine."

He grinned at me, his dimples poking out. "I knew you'd see it my way."

I sighed again, more dramatically this time as he lifted his half. "It'll so be worth it to see the expression on Derek's face."

Isaac hadn't considered this, apparently. "I can't decide if I'm excited or scared."

"That's what we call anticipation my dear Watson."

He sighed loudly as we backed into the street. "Just remember this was your idea."

"Crime buddies!"

He rolled his eyes. "Please don't say that."

xxx

"What if someone stops us?" He asked, where we waited at a light. "What if a cop stops us?"

"I have a driver's license now," I unhelpfully supplied.

Isaac shot me a strange look. "How does that help in any way?"

"It helps! Believe me! It does."

He shook his end of the head. "Would you please tell me what the plan is if someone asks why we're carrying this!?"

"Wing it!" I said. "It's way more believeable if we wing the story."

"That seems like a disaster." Isaac let out a nervous noise of skepticism as we began to cross the street. A little kid in the back seat of the car we passed pointed at us, and his older brother pulled a phone out to video us as we waddled along. "Great," Isaac darkly muttered. "This is going to be posted on Facebook and the owners will see and Sheriff will recognize us and—"

"Isaac," I said, "Dude. Relax. There's a tarp covering his head, remember?"

He looked down at the green fabric as we carefully stepped onto the sidewalk and continued. "This is such a bad idea."

"This is a great idea."

"Oh, my god," Isaac muttered. "Oh my god, oh my god! Crap!"

"What?" I twisted around to try and see behind us. The sight of a police cruiser, stopped at the light on the other side of the street caught my eye. "Crap!"

"Crap! What do we do?"

"Uh!" I looked to the side. There was a restaurant beside us, but if we just walked a little further down there was a club. The sun was just starting to set and people were already lined up. "That way! Hurry! Pretend we're supposed to be going down that alley!" I made a show of pointing down the alley.

"What? No! Why?"

"Sometimes they take decorations for the club through there!" I hissed, pushing at the head to hurry him along. "Go, go!"

The police car slowly pulled away from the light and made a left turn, down our street, headed our way. "Oh crap, oh crap… this was such a bad idea!"

"Shut up!" I hissed through my teeth. "Isaac shut the fuck up!"

We both clamped our mouths shut and hurried down the sidewalk. Some of the people in the line looked at us strangely and I cleared my throat.

"Debbie said it needs to go on the table by the booth in the corner."

"Uh, right," Isaac awkwardly agreed. "The corner."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Too bad we can't stay," I said, allowing the tarp to slip over the hat of the head slightly. "I love Wild, Wild West night."

The girls closest to us in the line immediately began to whisper about the supposed western theme, and quieted when I asked if we could pass by them.

"Oh, sorry," The red head said. She paused to smirk and look Isaac over, tucking a strand of curled hair behind her ear.

He breathed out an awkward laugh and offered her a weak grin. He nodded at her. "Excuse us."

She giggled like he'd said something charming and scurried out of the way to watch us pass. Amused, I raised an eyebrow at him and he glared at me as we awkwardly crab-walked between them.

The police car slowly cruised past as the girls fell back into line and their attention was split between the cop and us. The music from the club grew louder as we passed into the alley, and I sighed in relief.

"Smooth, kid," I complimented. "Not too bad for your first crime."

"Who's Debbie?" Isaac asked.

"Debbie is always the manager," I shrugged. "You've never noticed that?"

"My mom's name was Debbie."

"Really?" I asked. "What did she do?"

Isaac paused and looked up at me. "She… was the office manager at the high school."

I snorted loudly. "Nice. She died?"

He looked away and nodded, eyeing a dumpster we walked by when it made a strange mechanical whir. We gave it a wide birth and hurried past.

"Mine too," I awkwardly said, feeling the need to fill the silence.

"Do you miss her?" He asked, the least uncomfortable tone I've ever heard him use.

"Not really," I admitted. "I didn't know her, so… No."

"That sucks."

Movement from the top of the building beside us caught my eye. I looked up and frowned because there was nothing there. I shook my head and focused back on Isaac, whom I realized was talking about his mom.

"She was actually… um, a lot like those women at the park. She had that haircut and she went to all of the swim meets."

"Swim meets?" I kept one eye on the building as I kept him engaged in conversation. "Were you on the swim team?"

He shook his head. "I was too young. My brother was. My dad was the coach. It was this whole thing. She loved hosting the parties for the team. I don't think she ever knew they drank, though."

"Wow," I said as we crossed into another alley. "Must have been nice to have someone like that."

He sighed loudly. "Anyways. I think I… wait. Do you hear that? That hissing? What's doing that? Is there a cat?"

"Don't look up," I murmured.

"What?" He looked up.

"Isaac! God damn it!"

He nearly dropped the head. He fumbled to catch it and exclaimed loudly. "What the hell is that!?"

"Relax!" I snapped.

There was a creature, maybe as big as Isaac but more muscular, covered in scales. It looked like a humanoid lizard and it was perched on the roof of the building overhead. I watched it watching us with its head cocked, as it had been for last minute since I'd noticed it.

But it wasn't chasing us. It wasn't trying to kill us. It just seemed… strangely curious.

I nudged the head between us. "Keep moving," I quietly said. "We're starting to freak it out."

The creature's clawed fingers drummed across the edge of the building and it withdrew. Like a lion watching prey from high in a tree, it was content to watch us pass through the alley under it, but it never let us out of its sight.

Isaac was muttering a constant string of nonsensical phrases and I was doing my best not to hyperventilate. All I knew was that Derek would be super pissed if I got Isaac killed, and every documentary I'd ever watched said that if a predator wasn't acting hostile to you, it would probably be best to just calmly put as much distance between you and the creature as possible and try to quickly and calmly get to safety.

That's all I focused on now. The creature followed along the top of the building until we reached the mouth of the alley and then it was forced to either stop or leap off and follow us on foot.

"Do you trust me?"

"What?" Isaac said, unable to tear his gaze away from the creature that was hissing now, growing agitated.

"Isaac!" I snapped.

He looked at me.

"On the count of three, walk into the street."

"What?" He looked out at the street. "There's traffic!"

"Walk into the street!"

"That's crazy! Let's just run!"

"No! Isaac! Ready? One.." We tightly gripped the goat head. "Two…" The animal let out a reptilian growl above and I called, "Three!"

In unison, we swiftly swung the giant head and passed between traffic. A car slammed on its breaks at the last second, tires squealing and horn blaring, and the sudden onslaught of noise startled the creature on the building and it hissed loudly and retreated.

Isaac was freaking out about the traffic and pulling me along but I watched the creature turn until its tail disappeared from view. We stepped onto the sidewalk and stopped to take deep, panicked breaths.

The traffic slowly started up again and we looked up at the top of the building where the creature had been. "We should go," Isaac lowly noted.

I nodded frantically. "Go, go, go!"

xxx

"Too bad it didn't fly down from the building and chew your face off," I countered.

Isaac and I had stopped musing about the species of the creature half an hour ago. Since then, we've traded insults nonstop and sipped on smoothies from the cooler. It was the bottled brand and they were lukewarm but the sugar did wonders for our nerves.

The insults started innocently enough, but they'd devolved into a petty little childish competition in about two minutes flat. So far, we were tied.

"Too bad the car didn't keep going and flatten you like a pancake," Isaac said.

"Too bad you didn't drop Keystone George in the middle of the street on your feet and get hit by that semi truck."

"Too bad you didn't cut your hand on his badge and get tetanus and die."

"Too bad—"

The door of the depot opened. Derek walked in and abruptly stopped, his jacket only half shrugged off his shoulders, frozen mid-step. He frowned deeply, transfixed by the head that sat between us.

"What… the hell… is that?"

I looked down at my bottle, lifting it up. "Smoothies! Remember? We got them at the store."

Derek snapped his gaze to me and I grinned in delight at the glare I received. "Lainey…"

"Ohhh, you mean him." I reached out to pat Keystone George, who was propped proudly on top of Derek's crate. I'd moved my mom's urn into my trunk while Isaac had stopped to use the restroom when we returned. "This is Keystone George!"

"Why?" He bluntly asked. "Why—where? Where did you get it?"

"The donut shop on Maple Street!"

Isaac sipped loudly at his smoothie and tried to remain indiscreet. He shrank at the potent glare Derek briefly turned onto him. Derek focused on me. "Why?"

"They abandoned him," I pouted. "It was sad."

Derek paused at the news, rolling his eyes as he processed it, and turned away to pinch the bridge of his nose. He sighed heavily. "Oh… Okay. Whatever. I don't have time for this."

I leapt from my seat to trail after him as he passed through the cart. He threw his jacket over to his seat and stripped his shirt off. I hummed in appreciation and he ignored me. He immediately went to town on the punching bags, and I noticed that he didn't even glance at the patches of duct tape, meaning he'd long since discovered them.

I cleared my throat and crossed my arms as he punched. "So… there's more."

He huffed and glanced at me briefly, looking annoyed. "What?"

"I don't really know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it." I paused and put my hands out. "Giant lizards."

He stopped punching to look at me strangely. "What?"

The way he said it led me to believe that he genuinely had no clue what I was talking about. "Giant… lizard people."

"This again," Derek rolled his eyes and it took a moment for me to realize what he meant.

"What? No! No, this isn't that! I don't mean the Reptilian Elite! Or—maybe I do. Oh my god! Maybe it was!"

He ignored me.

"It was real, Derek! I'm serious! We saw a giant reptile on top of a building by this club! It was just staring down at us and we had to walk into traffic to get away from it and it had these eyes—ugh, the eyes were beady and orange and reptilian. Nightmare eyes!"

"Lainey," Derek said, causing me to stop and look at him. "I don't have time for this!"

"Derek, I get it. I really do. You think I'm trying to annoy you or you think I think I'm being funny, but I'm not. This time I'm not."

He frowned. "What?"

I gestured behind me. "The goat head was a stupid idea. It was dumb, I get that. We were bored, it was spur of the moment, but just forget it, okay? Forget everything else. There was a creature in the middle of downtown Beacon Hills and it… I don't know!"

"Well you're the expert on lizard people," He shrugged. "Why don't you call Louis C.K. and ask him?"

I gawked at him as he brushed around me. He went past the obstacle course and after a short moment I stormed after him. I followed him and waved my hands around as I spoke. "You don't believe me!"

He didn't respond and I scoffed loudly. He took the stairs to the office two at a time and tried to outrun me, slamming the door shut as he stepped in, but I threw it open before it could close and it slammed into the wall.

"What will it take? What would it take for you to believe me? Isaac was there! Would you believe him?"

"No," Derek plainly said, sounding bored as he went to a corner in the office and opened up what I just realized in that moment was a cabinet he used as a wardrobe. He pulled out a clean shirt and pulled it over his head.

"Then what would it take?"

"A lizard person to walk up to me and say, 'Hey. I'm real.'"

"That would never happen, Derek," I bitterly informed him, my fists clenched tightly. "It would just hiss at you and probably attack."

He snorted, leaning against the filing cabinet to wait for me to make some interesting point. He shrugged at me. "Okay."

"You know what?" I exclaimed. "I'm going to track that stupid thing down! I'm going to go hunting for it tomorrow and snap a picture of it!"

"Yeah," He said, stepping close enough to put his face in mine. My mouth dried up when his nose almost touched mine again. "You do that."

He brushed past me and I watched him stride to the door. "Ugh!" I growled after him, and chased him down the stairs.