Chapter Eleven: Even Though I'd Be Sacrificed

Chapter Eleven: Even Though I'd Be Sacrificed

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked the boy in his doorway, rudely, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not here to see Casey." Sean said smugly, "I'm here to see you."

"What, did Casey's rejection turn you gay? Well, my door doesn't swing that way, so sorry!" and he made to shut the door.

Sean reached out his hand and stopped it, though, inches from closing. "Not so fast. I got a bone to pick with you, so why don't you just step outside?"

Casey's eyes grew wide as she looked over Derek's shoulder. She squeezed him, "No, don't do it Derek." She whispered so Sean wouldn't hear her.

"Sorry, dude. I've got no problems with you, as long as you stay away from my girl." Derek said, and he heard Casey let out a sigh of relief.

Behind them, Edwin and Lizzie were watching fearfully. Lizzie looked horrified, and Edwin looked confused. Derek went to close the door again, but Sean stuck his foot in the way and pushed the door forcefully so that it hit the wall with a bang. He crossed the doorstep and glared at Derek and Casey.

"Now, I've asked you nicely to come outside. Don't make me being you out there forcefully." His voice was threatening, and his fists were clenched.

Casey took a step back and pulled Derek with her, "Derek, promise me you won't fight him. I don't want you to get hurt." She whispered, holding him tight, and taking another step back. He nodded his head, and quickly squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"What? Too much of a coward to face me? Ha! Casey doesn't deserve a wimp like you. Well, a three-timer like her, oh, I'm sorry, slut would be the more appropriate word…"

Derek made to lunge at him, but stopped himself.

Sean laughed, "What, afraid you might mess up your face?"

Derek locked his jaw, "No. I promised I wouldn't fight."

"Oh, a whipped boy. Figures. Casey doesn't have a man that isn't. Then again, she might, you never know, she's probably dated half the student body!"

Derek narrowed his eyes, "Stop it. Now."

"Oh, what are you going to do? Glare me to death?" Sean pretended to shrink in fear, "Oh no!"

"Shut up, back off, and get out of my house!"

Edwin and Lizzie's eyebrows rose, and Sean looked down at him, "This is not your house. It's Casey. Unless she's decided its better to keep her men in the house where she can get to them easier. Where are the other two? Do they have their own rooms and everything?"

Derek gritted his teeth, "I told you to shut up!" His fists were clenched, and Casey grew worried that he was going to hit Sean. She squeezed him again, and tried to keep him back.

"Well, if you won't fight me, how about I fight you!" and with that, Sean raised his fist and got ready to punch Derek's face.

"Stop!" Casey yelled and ran in front of Derek, "You wanna fight Derek? Well you're gonna have to fight me first!"

"Casey? What are you doing?!" Derek yelled, looking down at her, his eyes wide.

"Nobody's gonna hurt you. Nobody. If he wants to fight you, he'll have to fight his ex-girlfriend first!"

Sean looked down at her, and smirked, "My pleasure." And he raised his fist again.

Casey braced herself for the blow, but Derek stepped in, "Oh no you don't!" He gently pushed Casey behind him and stepped up to Sean, "You can trash-talk me, you can threaten me, and you can even fight me. But if you think I'm gonna let you hurt her, you're crazy!"

"It's a lot of talk from someone who won't even throw a punch." Sean said, a smug smirk on his face.

Derek looked ready to kill him, "Derek, no don't!" Casey cried, and hurried to grab his arm before he could punch Sean.

"Oh, that's sweet, sticking up for me, but we're done, remember?" Sean barely glanced at her before returning to smugly watch Derek struggle to decide whether or not to fight him.

"I am NOT standing up for you!" she let go of Derek's arm and stepped up to Sean's face, "In fact, I really want him to beat the crap out of you. I just don't want him to have to get in trouble for putting you in the hospital." She said, pushing him back away from her and Derek.

"Oh, so now you're both big talkers. But I still haven't seen any action, I doubt the boy can even slap someone!" he laughed, and Casey glared at him. She pulled her fist back to gain momentum, and let it land right on Sean's nose, she felt it crack, and was satisfied. When she pulled her hand back, she saw blood on it. His nose was already bleeding.

He looked over at Derek, "Oh, I get it, you talk the talk, but she fights your battles for you?"

Derek moved Casey, "I can fight my own battles!" he yelled and swung a punch at him.

"DEREK!" Casey cried and pulled him away before the punch made contact with its target, "You promised!"

Derek looked over at her, "You got to punch him!"

"I didn't promise!"

He gritted his teeth again, and looked Sean up and down, "You're not worth it. You really aren't." He took Casey's hand in his, and backed away, "I don't need to fight you. And neither does Casey. Now either you leave, or I call the cops. Your choice."

Sean glared menacingly at him, "Fine, I'll go." He looked down at Lizzie, who was still standing by the couch, watching everything with wide eyes, "But, I'm taking your little sister!" he grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her toward the door.

"Lizzie!" Casey screamed, her voice cracking, and she, Derek, and Edwin all ran out after them. When they got outside, Sean had already swung Lizzie over his shoulder and was trying to hurry away.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Casey screamed, running after them. Derek sped past her and quickly caught up with them.

"LET GO OF HER!" he roared.

"Fine." And Sean let go of her, letting her slide off his shoulder and onto the sidewalk. She cried out in pain, and clutched her shoulder. Sean began to take off, and Derek looked from him to Lizzie, and then back to him, "Oh no you don't!" he took off running after him, his face twisted in anger.

Casey and Edwin hurried over to Lizzie and knelt down next to her. "Liz, are you alright?" Casey asked, panicked.

Lizzie groaned, and tried to sit up, clutching her shoulder tighter in pain, "I'll be fine. Go make sure he doesn't kill him."

"He wouldn't kill Derek." Casey said, though she wasn't sure that was true.

"I'm more worried about Derek killing him. Now go!" and with her uninjured arm she pushed her sister.

"But, Liz," Casey pointed to her shoulder.

"I've got Edwin, Derek needs you." Edwin looked up at her and nodded, "Go." He urged, and Casey looked once more down at Lizzie's shoulder, than took off running after Sean and Derek.

"Casey?!" She turned to look who it was and saw Alan hurrying across the street over to her. She looked ahead and saw Derek still chasing Sean down. She then looked back to Alan, "Hey." She said, rushed and out of breath.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking to where she had just looked away from.

"Derek's chasing after Sean!"

"Derek? Oh, you mean the guy you dumped me for."

Casey looked over at the blonde boy, "Alan, I'm really sorry, I truly am. But, I'm not the same person anymore. I doubt you would even recognize me."

"Casey, I'm looking right at you."

"Not in that way. You think I'm some other person. That's not me! And I'm sorry, but I have to go make sure they don't kill each other!" And she began to run again, but Alan called out, "Once again, choosing someone else over me!"

She stopped short and turned to look at him, "Is your safety in danger? I don't think so. So, I'm sorry, but I think the situation up there is a little more dire!"

Alan rolled his eyes, and she took off again. He sighed, and then watched her, deciding to run off after her. She was almost there, just a little more, and she would catch up to them, and hopefully stop Derek from doing anything stupid.

Too late. Derek had just pounced onto Sean, knocking him into a car parked on the street beside the sidewalk. Casey heard Sean's yells, and she ran faster, feeling Alan right behind her. She finally caught up to them, and saw Sean getting up and kicking Derek in the gut as he lay on the ground, his head resting on the car behind him.

"Leave him alone!" Casey yelled and charged at Sean. He laughed at first, watching her run toward him, but then his face grew panicked as he realized she wasn't stopping. She ran into him, and pushed him down onto the ground. He lay in the grass, glaring up at her. Alan stood on the sidewalk watching in awe. But then he was Derek lying on the ground, and got an idea. He ran over to the boy that had stolen his girlfriend, and helped him up.

"Oh, thanks man—" but he was cut off by Alan's fist making contact with his gut. His mouth opened wide and looked at the boy like he was crazy, and he fell to his knees.

"No problem!" Alan yelled forcefully and punched Derek again, this time in the face. He then kicked Derek's legs and made him fall the rest of the way down to the ground. He then began to kick him repeatedly. As Alan's foot collided with Derek's nose, he let out a cry of sheer pain. Casey whipped her head around, forgetting about Sean.

"Derek!" she cried, and went to run over to help him, but was stopped by two large hands grabbing her ankles. She turned her head and looked down as she saw Sean grinning up at her.

He then stood up and grabbed her wrists, "I think it's time your 'boyfriend' found out what it's like to have his girl stolen from him right in front of his eyes." There was a glimmer in his eye that Casey didn't like, and she struggled to get out of his grip, but he was not letting go.

"Derek!" she cried again, but this time it was a plea for help as Sean's face got closer to hers.

From his spot on the ground, Derek looked up at her, and his eyes grew wide. Alan turned to watch them too, curious in why Casey was crying out.

And right there, before their eyes, Sean pressed his lips against hers roughly. Her eyes widened and she continued to struggle to get away from him, but he forcibly pushed her up against a near-by tree and kept her head there by pressing his lips harder against hers. His hands still had her wrists in a tight lock, and his feet were now on hers; she was trapped.

Derek couldn't find his breath. It was one thing to see Casey kissing someone else. But it was a completely different thing to see someone doing this to her. He wanted to stand up and stop him, but Alan's feet were pinning him down to the ground. Alan felt him struggling and looked down at him, "Hurt's doesn't it? Now you know how we felt!" he grabbed the collar of Derek's shirt and pulled him up, punching his in the face again. Derek felt his own nose crack, but he didn't care. He shoved Alan out of the way, and tried to run over to Casey, but Alan jumped onto him, and they both fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Sean was deepening and the kiss, and Casey was terrified, she couldn't move and she couldn't stop him. She tried to clamp her mouth shut, but Sean was forceful, and she could do nothing to stop him. She tried to cry out, but all that came out was a muffled sound. Derek heard it, and looked up at her from under Alan. He wanted nothing more than to pull the creep off of her. But Alan chose that moment to take his head in his hand, and shove it into the ground. Derek's mouth was now filled with dirt, and he couldn't see a thing. He used all his strength and rolled over, sending Alan off of him. Before anyone could stop him, he hopped up and ran over to the Sean, pulling him off Casey and punching his face.

"Derek." It was a whimper; she was standing against the tree, clinging to it, and staring, horrified, at him.

His face softened and he stepped closer to her, he gently took her hands in his and put his forehead to hers, "It's okay, now. He's gone. I'll put an end to this."

She shook her head, "No. I don't want you to get hurt." She whispered, her face still twisted in fear.

"I don't really give a crap what happens to me. Nobody does that to you and gets away with it!" and before she could protest again, he turned and charged toward Sean. But, by this time, Alan had gotten up and was hot on his trail. As soon as Sean and Derek collided, Alan joined them, and the two boys pushed Derek into the car. Sean motioned for Alan to stand back, and Alan quickly obeyed. Sean pulled out a small object and flipped it open.

Casey saw the flash of the silver blade and cried out once more, "DEREK!" and she hurried over to him, but Alan stopped her before she reached him. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the ground. She clutched Alan's shoulder, watching as Derek scrambled to stand up, and stood, frozen with fear, with his hands on the car behind him, trying to think of what to do.

"Derek!" she cried, tears running down her face, sobbing hysterically, "Run! Derek! RUN!"

He looked over to her, and Sean took that moment to charge at him, knife held high, getting ready to stab him.

"DEREK!"

The blade pierced his skin right above his heart. His eyes grew wide, and he looked over to Casey, whose mouth had dropped open, and she was sobbing even more.

Sean pulled the blade out and hurriedly stepped back, looking somewhat terrified. Alan looked over at him, "What did you do?!"

Casey pounded Alan's shoulder, and kicked her feet, trying to get to Derek, make sure he was alright, and hold him in her arms. He was sliding down the car, his hands limp at his sides. His face was still shocked, and his eyes never left hers. Alan set her down and took off, not wanting to get caught at the scene of the crime. Sean dropped the knife and backed away, slowly, watching as Casey ran over to Derek. He then followed suit after Alan, not even glancing back behind him.

Casey cried hard and loud as she finally reached him. His breathing was growing shorter and shorter, and his eyelids were drooping. She held his face in her hands, and looked into his eyes.

"No, Derek, no! You're gonna be alright, we'll get you some help, come on, stay awake. Derek! Derek!" his eyes were closing, "Somebody help me!" she screamed, and her voice did not sound like her own, "Somebody call an ambulance! Please! Help!"

Edwin and Lizzie ran over to them, out of breath, faces red. Their eyes grew wide, and Lizzie screamed. Casey turned to them, "Edwin!" she cried, "Get help! Call 911!! Something!" She then turned back to Derek.

He looked up at her through his half-closed eyes, his mouth opening, trying to say something. Her tears were falling fast, but she tried to stop her sobbing to listen to him. She leaned in closer and put her ear next to his mouth.

"What? Derek, what?!" she cried, starting to sob again.

But he never got a chance to answer. He looked up at her, and breathed his last breath, the ghost of one word on his lips, never to be said.