Author's Note: Hello, and welcome to the first chapter of The Finding ever written on my BRAND NEW LAPTOP! :)

I'm so excited! Now I can write wherever I want! (For example, right now I'm in the basement, when usually I'd be writing this in my room, stuck to my desktop. EWW.) Anyways, I'm gunna stop obsessing now and talk about stuff you guys will actually care about (or not, whatever floats your boat I guess…)

Last chapter we found out why Derek left, among other things. This chapter will be pretty pivotal in the story, but I'm not gunna tell you why here. Read the chapter to find out!

Lastly, a big thank you goes out to everyone who reviewed last chapter, even when it wasn't mandatory. I LOVE YOU ALL! 3

---

This week your disclaimer comes from lil' ol' me, because our beloved Christina is going in for surgery tomorrow- it's sad, I know, but Christina will be back next chapter. For now, wish her luck!

Disclaimer: This is based on a skit from an episode of family guy (cookie monster in the asylum; my absolute favourite!)

Steph: *Smashing laptop*
Cummon, common! WHY WON'T YOU WORK?!

Doctor: *Walks in*
What's this?
*Points to laptop*

Steph: Oh, that?
*Nervously looks around room*
I've never seen it before! It's probably Justin's; he was in here cleaning before, I swear!

Doctor: Is that right?
*grabs sedative*

Steph: No! I own darkest powers! You can't do this to me! I have to write!

Doctor: (to male nurses) Hold her down.

Steph: NO!!!
*struggles and screams*

Doctor: *injects it, she's falling asleep.*
Shhh, it's ok! You know you don't own DP, but it's gunna be ok, chil'! We're gunna get you help!

---

Insanity

Simon POV

Chloe was acting insane.

Her eyes were wild, and her movements were erratic and inconsistent- one minute she was running around like a madwoman, and the next, she was sitting on a rock with her head in her hands, shaking uncontrollably.

"Chloe, what the hell happened? What's going on?" I asked anxiously. She had been screaming in her sleep, and Derek had told me what had happened the last time…

"Simon, I had a really horrible dream, and I know something's wrong with Derek. We have to keep going! We have to find him!" She grabbed my arm for emphasis, and her grip was so tight that her nails were digging into my skin painfully.

"Chloe, that was just a dream!" I tried to console her. "Why are you so worked up about it?" I asked, confused by her behavior. She proceeded to tell me about the dream she had had the night before.

***

"Are you serious? You knew Derek was in trouble before we even told you?!" I was shocked; was it possible she was some sort of multi-talented psychic necromancer, or could it be the fact that she had such a strong connection with Derek…?

"Chloe, are you sure?" I hated to doubt her, but if she was overreacting, then I wasn't going anywhere before I got my 8 hours…

When she answered, there was ferocity in her expression that frightened me. "Simon, please! I'm not joking around! We have to go, now!"

There was no doubting the sincerity of her words. "Please, Simon?" she repeated, begging now.

I sighed."Fine. I'll go wake up Tori."

***

"What did you see in your dream, Chloe? It might help us figure out where Derek is."

We were walking now, miles away from our previous 'campsite'. We had left immediately after I had woken up a very grumpy Tori…

"Well, in my first dream, I saw the basement of some sort of warehouse or something. There were pipes lining the walls, only one light bulb…and I'm pretty sure the walls were gray," she said, biting her lip as she recalled the memories.

"What about your second dream?" I asked.

She bit her lip again. "Umm…I'm pretty sure it was irrelevant, but it was some sort of theatre, I think…"

I nodded slowly. "So we're looking for some sort of warehouse near a theatre, right?"

"I guess so…but wait, where was Derek when you last spoke with him?"

"He was here in Buffalo, actually. He wanted to start over….he wanted to come back." I whispered the last part too quietly for her to hear, because I knew it would upset her more.

It was true - Derek had been coming back.

We had apologized to each other one night, and he admitted to me that he had made a mistake and couldn't do it alone. The plan was for him to return after looking around Buffalo one more time, but he had disappeared after he called me from a bus depot nearby...

It was pretty dang ironic, if you ask me. The way that everything was-

"Simon?" Chloe waved a hand in front of my face to get my attention.

"Sorry, Chloe, I was just thinking hard about something. What were you saying?"

"I was just about to ask where the closest theatre is. Did you happen to see one while you were in town with Andrew and my Aunt Lauren?" she asked hopefully.

I struggled to resurface the memories from that day. I had been pretty bored, traveling around with two adults who discussed things like the stock market and their mutual interest in Science Today….

"Didn't you tell me you saw some creepy old place near the art store you got your new supplies from?" Tori reminded me. She hadn't spoken the whole time we had been walking, so I was a bit surprised by her voice…and by the fact that she had actually been paying attention when I told her something so insignificant.

"Yeah, I did!" I smiled at my sister, suddenly remembering everything. The building had looked old and creepy, but I wasn't sure if it was what we were looking for. "But…I'm not sure if it was a theatre. It could have been something else," I admitted gravely.

"Where there any big buildings or warehouses close by?" Chloe asked.

I struggled to remember what I had seen that day; it had been an older part of town I had ventured into, and nothing had seemed momentous enough for me to remember, let alone register. "Umm….there was a Starbucks, but that's definitely not it…I think there was a Costco, or maybe a Wal-Mart? I'm not sure…"

"Those stores usually have huge warehouse-style basements, don't they?" Chloe sounded excited now, and I hated to do it, but…

"Chloe, it would probably be pretty difficult for someone to break into those stores. I mean, there'd be alarms and stuff, and video surveillance, and…"

"But what if…maybe there's a chance, Simon? Maybe whoever took Derek figured out a way to evade the cameras and the alarm? I mean, it's possible, right?"

I nodded, feeling guilty for giving her so much hope when it would probably all be for nothing.

"Chloe, first we need to get there! It was an hour long car ride, so it's probably more than double that on foot!" I watched as her face fell considerably before she suddenly perked up again, the determination evident in her eyes.

"Let's get moving, then! Two hours is nothing compared to 3 days on the run! We can do this!" She sounded like a cheerleader giving a pep-talk to a disgruntled underdog team; it took a lot of self- control to keep me from laughing.

"Um…I'm not sure if you noticed, but we're already 'going'," Tori grumbled sleepily.

Chloe's face fell. "I'm sorry, Tori. I know you're tired n' all, but if we wanna find Derek, we're gunna have to make a few sacrifices."

You're teling me! I'm so exhausted I can't even think straight!

Tori grumbled something that sounded like 'yeah' and kept walking with her head down until we reached the city.

***

We were utterly exhausted.

We had walked around the entire city, concentrating on the areas in town with warehouses, theatres, and large department stores…

We still hadn't found him, and Tori's patience was wearing thin.

"Maybe we should try the next town over?" I suggested half-heartedly. I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and never wake up again, but Chloe kept insisting that we kept going…

Tori exploded before Chloe could respond.

"No! I'm not going anywhere! Do you think I'm enjoying this wild-goose-chase? 'Cuz lemme tell ya, I'm sick and tired of this! I got two, count em, TWO hours of sleep last night, and only 6 hours the night before! I'm exhausted, and now, after your little city-wide promenade, you expect me to keep going?! I don't think so! I never signed up for this! I never agreed to risk my life to save wolf-boy!" Her face was getting redder by the minute, and Chloe was just standing there taking it, dumbstruck.

Tori continued her explosive rant. "Did it ever occur to either of you that maybe he's not missing? That your dreams were just dreams? Maybe he doesn't want to be found? Did you ever consider that?

Chloe's eyes widened in shock. It was clear she had never considered this possibility- to tell you the truth, neither had I- but Tori's delivery method of this particular theory was way too harsh…

"Tori, that was out of line. You know Derek wouldn't just take off without telling us; he's not like that!"

Tori advanced on me. "Oh yeah, Simon? How much do you really know about your 'brother'? How much has he told you? You never even knew he had a thing for Chloe until he told you! You believed everything he said! What else could he have been keeping from you?"

That hurt. "Tori, I-"

"Don't Tori me, Simon! I'm sick of this little adventure! I'm gunna go inside and buy myself a decent meal! Then I'm going back to the house, whether you choose to join me or not!"

Chloe spoke them. "Wait, Tori!"

Tori spun around to face Chloe. "I'm not waiting anymore, Chloe! I'm sick-"

Chloe cut her off. "Sick and tired of this, yeah, I know. Now can you shut up for a minute? There's something off about this place!" She rubbed her temples and looked up at the building, scrutinizing it, although it seemed relatively normal, save for the neon yellow "WE SELL FOR LESS!" sign plastered to the brick wall. There was nothing about the place that caught my eye, but maybe…

"Wait a sec. I wanna check something." I ran to the corner and peered around it, studying the other structures on the street, my face exploding into a huge smile as I finally recognized where we were. "There's the creepy theatre! There, right next to the art store! This is it, Chloe!"

She breathed a sigh of relief. "This is it, then? We'll need a plan, and you guys need to cast some spells so we can get in, and-"

Tori finally caught on. "Screw that! Let's get this rescue over with!"

---

Author's Note: Sorry about the short-ness guys! This was originally wayyyy longer, but it didn't seem right, so I had to split it up.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed that. It was kinda like me baptizing my laptop, in a way :D Can I have 20 reviews for this chapter? Pretty please?

ANNND! If you guys are looking for another great DP fanfic to read, my friend Lyndsay has written a Twilight/ DP crossover. It's called Who Knew? and it's absolutely hilarious! You guys should definitely go check it out! (Review if you do! She wants your opinions!)