Chapter Fourteen
'What do you mean she's gone?' I frowned, hoping that what Stiles had just told me was some kind of joke I wasn't getting.
'She's gone. There was a scream and I rushed in there with your Mom and her Dad.' I could hear the stress in his voice, 'Stace, the shower was running, the window was open but she was gone. I don't know what to do.'
'Mechi, listen to my voice,' I murmured, recognising the spike of anxiety in his voice, 'take a deep breath, in through your nose out through your mouth. Do it now.' I could hear him complying and when he continued without incident I relaxed slightly as I rooted for my car keys in my room.
'Scott and I will be there in like ten minutes. Try and find something we can use for her scent, okay?' I said, making sure to keep my voice gentle as I rushed into my twin's room and threw his shoes at him. He raised his brow in question but slipped on the shoes, noticing my erratic behaviour.
'Thanks Stace. I'll get her gown and wait for you out front.' He hung up before I could say anything but I wasn't surprised. He had one goal in that moment and it was to find Lydia and honestly I could feel the same determination swimming in my stomach.
'Stace, what's going on?' my twin asked, his chocolate eyes filled with worry.
'Lydia went missing from the hospital. We need to find her, come on.' I grabbed his hand and tugged him to my car, tossing him my keys and explaining when I saw the flare of surprise on his face, 'I'm not in the right state of mind to drive.'
Scott squeezed my hand before letting go so we could both get into appropriate sides of the car. The journey was spent in silence with Scott sending me concerned looks that I didn't have it in me to address and me refusing to consider an option where we didn't find Lydia to return her home safe and sound. I refused to consider another option. I'd barely survived Cora. Lydia was one of the first female friends I'd made since losing my best friend and I was going to make damned sure I wouldn't lose her to. Not just for me, for Stiles, for Allison, for everyone. I felt determination flare through me and I pushed down my feelings of concern and fear, knowing I needed to focus completely. I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket just as we pulled into the hospital and I almost didn't answer it, thinking it could have been Stiles and we were about to see him anyway. But when I pulled it out and saw Derek's name flashing across the screen I was glad I did.
'You wanna go and get Stiles?' I murmured, noticing the hyperactive boy hadn't come out yet.
'Sure. We won't be long.' Scott assured me, jumping from the car in one swift movement. I clicked answer and lifted the device to my ear.
'Hey Der.' I mumbled after taking a deep breath, trying to collect myself.
'What's wrong?' he asked and I felt the protective walls I'd built up around myself crumble. Just like that. Surly that wasn't normal?
'It's Lydia, she went missing from the hospital.' I whispered, afraid he'd hear the emotion in my voice if I spoke louder.
'What happened?' I felt my heart warm in my chest; he sounded worried and he cared enough to ask.
'We don't know. Stiles was here and he heard her scream. When they went in to see what was wrong, the shower was running, the window was open and she was gone.' I wiped a stray tear away from my cheek in annoyance.
'You're looking for her?' he guessed, I could hear shuffling in the background.
'Yeah. We're just picking Stiles up, he's getting something with her scent.' I saw them both coming outside and climbed out of the car, taking my keys from the driver's seat where Scott had tossed them.
'I'm on my way.' He said, his tone leaving no room for argument. I felt my whole body freeze, halfway out of the car. My left foot was still on the car and my left hand was holding the door as I used it to prop myself out. My whole chest warmed and my heartbeat picked up because I knew he wasn't offering because he particularly cared about Lydia. He cared because I did. For the first time in what felt like forever a small smile formed on my face, snapping me out of my trance and I fully stepped out of the car, softly closing the door.
'Are you sure? Argent might be out looking for her seeing as she was bitten by Peter.' I bit my lip, worry for him adding to the concern I had for my strawberry blonde friend.
'Give me ten minutes.' He said and hung up the phone, clearly not concerned for his own safety.
I rolled my eyes fondly and shoved my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. I was wearing black high-waisted skinny jeans with a baggy baby pink jumper and my leather jacket and boots. Perfect for what we were gonna be doing, I guess.
'Who was that?' Stiles asked, and I could immediately see his concern crinkling at the corners of his eyes.
'Derek. He's gonna come and help.' I said, walking over to him and giving him a hug, knowing whether he admitted it or not he needed some form of comfort in that moment.
'Great. It's good to have an extra nose on this.' Scott breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the expectation wasn't going to be resting solely on his shoulders.
Stiles' arms wound around my waist and gripped onto me tightly as a large sigh left him; I was happy to feel him relax a little. He had the bad habit of bottling everything up and it left him jittery and constantly anxious; if I could relieve him of some of it I wasn't going to complain.
'We're going to find her, Stiles. I promise.' I murmured to him before pulling away.
'Thanks Stace,' he squeezed my hand before releasing me.
'Did you get it?' Scott asked, drawing Stiles' sad eyes to him.
Stiles released a deep breath and tossed him the medical bag with Lydia's hospital gown inside of it. My twin opened it and inhaled the different scents contained within the fabric before passing it to me. I had just finished doing the same when I felt the presence of Derek before I saw him. He came from behind me and placed a supportive hand on the small of my back. I looked up to him and offered him a forced smile that he saw right through; his eyes softened and his thumb moved back and forth where it rested at the base of my spine.
'How are we gonna do this?' Stiles asked, breaking Derek and I out of our stare off. I looked over to my hyperactive friend to see him running his hand across his buzz-cut.
'I think we should split up, we have Stacey's car and the Jeep, so we can cover more ground.' Scott said, glancing over to Derek and I for our response.
'Sounds good to me.' I agreed, looking up to see the new alpha nodding his assent.
'Great, let us know where you end up.' I said, handing Derek my keys to let him drive.
'What do you mean?' Scott frowned, probably assuming that we'd end up in the same place.
'Lydia lives in Beacon Hills, so her scent is going to be all over town, some might be fresher, but chances are we're going to be finding a lot of dead ends.' Derek explained, accepting my keys and winding his arm fully around my waist when I shivered.
'Great. Well then we better get moving.' Stiles sighed, heading to his Jeep.
'We'll take the scents to the North and West, you take South and East.' Derek yelled out to my twin and Stiles before leading me over to my car and opening up the passenger door for me to climb in. I did so gratefully, pulling on my seatbelt and breathing in the hospital gown I was still holding again.
'How are you doing?' Derek asked softly when he climbed into the drivers seat. He wound down the window, started the engine and began driving, while I looked out of the window.
'I-I don't know how I'm doing,' I answered honestly, I was feeling massively overwhelmed in that moment, 'I just need to focus on finding her.'
'We'll find her, Stace.' His free hand found mine and it remained there until we reached the school—it was the strongest scent, but seeing as she came here five times a week it wasn't that much of a surprise. He pulled up into a free space and released my hand so that we could both climb out of the car. We met at the front and looked up to the school with a sigh.
'She's not going to be here.' I murmured, but a thought popped into my head that made my stomach drop. She was bitten here. In the lacrosse field. My legs were moving before I could even think to tell them to, I heard Derek call my name but I just kept going. I knew he would follow me, and I'd explain my thoughts as soon as I got to the field. Everything was dark, but it didn't matter because my supernatural senses were helping me see everything clearly. I reached the end of the corridor and pushed open the double doors with enough force that they hit the brick walls with a THUD. I didn't pause and before I knew it, I was standing at the edge of the lacrosse field, staring at the person standing in the centre in disbelief.
'Stacey?' Derek breathed from beside me, when he finally caught up. I couldn't look away, not believing what I was seeing. My hand found Derek's forearm, my nails digging into the flesh.
'Lydia?' Derek sounded surprised himself, before he shouted a little louder, 'Lydia?'
The strawberry blonde was shaking from head to toe, her skin was stained with dirt and her hair was overridden with twigs and leaves. That finally seemed to snap me out of it.
'Lydia?' I said softly, taking a step closer to her before pausing and turning back to look at Derek, 'can I have your jacket?'
I noticed that since Lydia had turned around, he had averted his eyes from her, which I knew she would appreciate. He shrugged off his jacket and handed it to me before completely turning around. A small fond smile formed on my face, but my expression soon transformed back into concern when I faced my friend again.
'Stacey?' Lydia's small voice drew my attention back to her.
'You're okay, we're going to take you home, or maybe back to the hospital, I'm not completely sure yet.' I said, wrapping Derek's leather jacket around her shoulders and zipping it up for her, once she had put her arms through the holes.
'I don't want to go back to the hospital.' She shook her head, but she walked with me and snuggled closer to my side in an attempt to ward of the cold.
'Okay. We'll go back to mine, I just need to call your mom to tell her you're fine.' I murmured, calling for the alpha to follow us.
Lydia fell asleep almost immediately when we got her into the car. I turned the heat on full blast, knowing she was nearly hypothermic, and called her mom on the way to my house. She was understandably relieved, and agreed to let Lydia sleep over at my house for the night while she handled the hospital and the cops. Once I hung up with her, I called Stiles and the relief in his tone was palpable. I was honestly expecting him to be speeding to my house as soon as I hung up the phone. I felt a long sigh leave me as I placed my phone into the cup holder.
'Better?' Derek asked.
'So much.' I agreed, offering him a small but genuine smile of pure relief.
'What do you think happened?' he wondered, his eyes flickering to the rear-view mirror before moving back to the road.
'I was going to ask you that actually.' I admitted, brining the sleeves of my jumper down to cover my hands, 'this all started from the bite Peter gave her. She should be going through what Scott and I went through, but her wound is healing at the normal rate and she's not rejecting the bite either. Or is she? Is it more of a progressive thing or does it just happen?'
A shadow of despair fell over Derek's face, and my hand was on top of his before I could even think about putting it there. Before I could ask him what was wrong, he answered my question, his hand gripping mine tightly.
'She was bitten over a month ago. If her body were going to reject the bite, it would have by now. It's almost as if she's immune.' He murmured, sounding at a loss.
'Is that possible?' I frowned.
'I've never heard of it…' I could hear his scepticism in his tone; Derek had been born into the supernatural world, so if he came across something he'd never heard of before he was a little cynical.
'That doesn't mean it isn't possible.' I reminded him, my tone a little amused, 'we'll have to look into it. That bite might not have turned her into a wolf, but it did something to her. It's almost like a dormant gene.'
Derek looked over to me, his brows furrowed together in confusion, silently asking me to elaborate.
'I was reading a scientific research study that proved that cancer is a gene that everyone has, but just lays dormant until it is activated by something. Now this something can be literally anything; a bump to the head, a blood transfusion… what if the bite activated a dormant gene in her DNA?'
'Do you think it's a supernatural gene?' he looked over to me and I saw his eyes light with realisation, 'it would make sense, Peter biting her was intentional, he wouldn't have done it if he didn't want to get something out of it.'
'So you're saying that there is a chance Peter knew something we didn't when he bit her?' my teeth sank into my lower lip when Derek offered me a grim nod, and I looked over to the blissfully unaware strawberry blonde sleeping in the back seat.
'Whatever it is, we'll figure it out.' Derek assured me.
'We need to tell her, don't we?' I murmured, my eyes sheening over with tears.
'It would be a good idea,' the alpha said, tightening his hold on my hand even more. I quickly wiped away the tears that spilled over onto my cheeks.
'What if she finds out and then she's afraid of me? What if she doesn't want anything to do with me?' I said so quietly I half hoped he wouldn't be able to hear me; it felt so stupid to say it out loud, but I valued Lydia more than I had let on and the possibility of losing her was making my heart squeeze painfully in my chest.
I thought that the alpha hadn't picked up on my words of insecurity when he didn't answer, but when he pulled into my drive a few minutes later, he turned off the engine and turned to face me with a determined expression. He took my other free hand in his so that he was now holding them both, tightly but not enough to be painful.
'I won't lie to you, I have had some people react badly when I've told them what I am, but it's very rare for them to turn their back after the shock wears off. If Lydia is truly your friend, once she's gotten over the disbelief, she'll come around. If she doesn't then she'll be losing someone pretty amazing.' His voice was dripping with honesty and passion and by the time he had finished I was taken aback by the power of his words.
I didn't realise how close we had gotten until his forehead brushed up against mine. I heard myself gasp at the warmth that travelled through my body from the action and I remember wanting to move forward, to feel his lips against mine, but the moment was broken by Lydia shifting in the backseat. I pulled back first, releasing Derek's hands with a gentle squeeze and offered him a thankful smile that he returned. The disappointment that appeared in my stomach surprised me, but I pushed it to the back of my mind, not ready to consider those feelings.
'Stacey?' Lydia groaned, drawing my attention to her.
'I'm here,' I assured her, climbing out of the car and helping her get out from the backseat.
'I'm freezing.' She said, her teeth chattering s she clung to me, once again taking my body heat.
'I know, we're gonna get you inside and I'm gonna run you a red hot bath, okay?' I murmured, rubbing my hand up and down her arm.
Once I got her inside, Derek offered to make some tea while I led Lydia upstairs. She had returned to being catatonic now and so I gently sat her on the end of my bed while I went into the bathroom to start running the bath. Once everything was set up, I went back into my room and started removing the twigs and leaves from her hair. When they were all gone, I threw them in the trash and gently ran a brush through her hair to get the knots out of it. By the time that was done, the bath was also full. I turned off the water and led Lydia into the bathroom, after removing the jacket from her shoulders, I helped her into the water and went to leave but she grabbed my arm in a fierce grip.
'Don't leave me.' She murmured, her voice taught with emotion.
'Okay.' I agreed, kneeling down at the side of the bath and helping her clean her hair and rid herself of the dirt all over her body.
'The bathwater was dark and there was hair everywhere.' She murmured, sounding hysterical and looking down at her hands.
'Lydia, you're all right, everything is going to be okay, we're going to figure out what happened. I promise.' I assured her, stroking her hair in comfort.
'When he bit me his eyes glowed red,' she looked over to me, her eyes shining with vulnerability.
'I believe you.' I told her, because I did.
Before I could blink, Lydia was hugging me fiercely and sobbing into my neck. Clearly she wasn't expecting that response, and I was glad to offer her some assurance that she wasn't going crazy. There was something more going on, mostly what she didn't know, but I planned on telling her that when she was feeling a little better. I held her for as long as she needed, and when she was all cried out I helped her out of the bath and wrapped her in my bathrobe. By that point, she had come back to herself enough to blow dry her hair. I pulled out some of my pyjamas; some sweat pants and one of Stiles' old hoodies. After I laid it out at the end of my bed I heard footsteps approaching my bedroom door. Before they could knock, I stepped out into the hall while Lydia finished her hair, and found Derek holding a couple mugs of tea. I smiled gratefully and accepted a mug from him.
'Thank you, not just for the tea, but for coming to help tonight.' I told him, feeling my heart skip a beat when he offered me a sincere bashful smile.
'Don't worry about it.' he murmured, gesturing to my closed bedroom door with his chin, 'how is she?'
'Better, I think. She mentioned being bit by something with red eyes and she seemed relieved that I believed her. I think I'm going to wait until tomorrow to tell her everything, she's been through enough tonight.' I sighed, suddenly feeling massively exhausted.
Today had been my first day off after doing back-to-back shifts for most of winter break, and I supposed that the exhaustion was catching up with me. I took a sip of my drink and was surprised when I tasted coffee. Derek smiled when he saw my look.
'I thought you could use the coffee, I figured you'd be pretty tired.'
I felt my heartbeat quicken. Derek freaking Hale. He was an enigma, he was thoughtful, sweet, loyal, reliable, funny, his smile had the ability to render me speechless and I was pretty sure I was falling in love with him. As soon as that thought entered my mind, I shook it away, not ready or willing to accept that yet.
'You're the best person ever, thank you.' I told him, meaning every word.
Before he could respond, we heard two sets of footsteps barrelling up the stairs and turned just in time to see Stiles and Scott approaching.
'Woah, woah, woah slow down.' I warned them, not wanting either drinks to be spilled or my bedroom door to have two human shaped holes in it.
'Is she okay? What happened? Where did you find her?' Stiles asked, not pausing for breath.
'She's fine, I'm not sure and we found her at the school.' I answered him calmly, urging him to calm down with a hand on his shoulder.
'Can I see her?' he looked like he was ready to shove me out of the way either way, but I stood my ground.
'I'll ask her, let me just make sure she's decent.' I murmured, swapping my mug for Lydia's mug, offering Derek yet another thankful smile as I did.
I could hear Stiles asking what I had meant by 'decent' but I tuned their conversation out as I entered my room and gently closed the door behind me.
I found the strawberry blonde sat in the middle of my bed, fiddling with the sleeves of the hoodie I had lent her. It seemed as if she were in a world of her own. I came and sat next to her, slowly and gently, not wanting to scare her in any way.
'Lydia, how are you doing?' I murmured softly, noting that it had gone quiet in the hallway; I assumed Scott and Derek were eavesdropping right now.
'I'm okay.' She answered, her voice nowhere near as shaky as it had been. I could see the resolve in her eyes when she looked up; she was determined to not let what had happened to her rule her. Lydia Martin was strong; I had known that for a long time.
'I bought you some tea; encase your still a little cold. Derek made it for you.' I handed her the mug and she accepted it gratefully, a devious glint in her eyes that made me wary.
'Is Derek still here?' she asked innocently. Too innocently.
'Yeah, and Scott and Stiles just got back too, are you up for visitors?' I asked, trying to distract her but it was a lost cause.
'In a minute. I want you to tell me about Derek.' She smirked.
'Why, you interested? I don't think he's seeing anyone…' I murmured, desperately trying to seem casual, even if the idea of them together made me feel nauseous.
'Mhm, nice try Stacey McCall, just a friend my ass.' She lightly slapped my arm and I felt a groan fall out of my lips.
'Lydia—,' I tried to stop her, but apparently she was on a roll.
'No, don't even try it. I saw the way you were looking at each other at the lacrosse field,' she grinned like the cat who ate the canary.
'I literally have no idea what you're talking about.' I lied, cringing at how insincere my voice sounded.
'What gives?' She said, noting that I was fidgeting a little bit.
'Nothing, I just think you should see Stiles before it gets too late.' I said, moving to stand, 'I'll go and get him.'
I was very aware that both Derek and Scott could hear the conversation and it was making me nervous and irrational. I wanted to get away from the inquisition, but I was also kind of afraid to face the alpha and my twin. I took a deep breath and shook away my fears; there was nothing to be nervous about. This was Derek for goodness sake. I didn't need to be embarrassed.
'Stiles was looking for me?' she murmured, just as I touched the door handle. I looked at her over my shoulder and smiled.
'Yeah he did. He was worried sick about you.' I told her, happy to see a flush appear on her cheeks, 'I'll send him in.' I winked and laughed when she sent me an unimpressed look.
'Stacey,' she called just as I pulled the door open, I paused, 'thank you, for looking after me.'
'You're welcome, sweetie.' I told her, meaning every word.
I was surprised and relieved to see that the hallway was empty; maybe they hadn't been listening after all. I focused my hearing and realised they wee downstairs, in the kitchen.
'Dude, she won't give up until you've seen it,' Scott said, I could hear a smile in his voice.
'Seriously, and before you know it you'll know all of the words to all of the songs.' Stiles was probably shaking his head in that moment, 'that's how it started for me.'
'Please, you're just as bad as she is!' Scott exclaimed suddenly, and I swore I heard Derek snort in amusement.
'You two are like kindred spirits.' Derek mused, elaborating after a second, 'you two act like you're the twins.'
'He's right.' Scott agreed, probably smirking.
'You're just bitter because we're awesome and you both—,' Stiles didn't finish his sentence.
By this point I'd reached the bottom of the stairs, and the pause in conversation told me they'd all realised it. Stiles came bursting from the kitchen before I could join them in the room. I didn't say anything and simply gestured to the stairs, he went without a word, almost tripping in the process. I shook my head fondly and headed to the kitchen to pour some more coffee down my throat. I had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
Chapter fourteen for you! I think I'm gonna split the first episode into two parts because it's already 4,500 words long and I have a lot more to add. I hope you like the changes, let me know what you think of this episode guys! I hope you like it, I'm really liking making changes and adding more detail. See you next time :)
PLEASE REVIEW!