HARSHER THAN THE BARK
A/N: Remember to review guys!
Enjoy!
Scarlett was silent. She didn't speak. She didn't move. She barely even breathed. Her eyes were trained on the passing scenery but she failed to pay attention to any of it. Her mind was focused on other things. Focused on the events of last night that led to her becoming a shell of a girl.
She saw him fall. She saw him fall three stories onto an escalator. But she still couldn't let herself believe it. If she believed it then she would have to deal with all the pain she felt last night rushing back to her. That was something she couldn't go through again.
It had taken all of them to get her out of the abandoned mall. She fought so hard to go back, to prove to herself and to everyone else that he wasn't gone. It was something her friends had never seen before. She was crazed, determined…animalistic, almost.
Eventually they got her out and back home where she felt her heart being ripped straight from her chest all over again. Except, this time it wasn't just because she wouldn't see him on a daily basis anymore. No, this time she would never see him again.
She still couldn't believe she was on this bus going to some stupid cross country meet. It wasn't like she wanted to be but she wasn't granted a choice in the matter. Scott and Stiles had literally dragged her from the house that morning. Stiles thought it was an insane idea too. To just leave things the way they were. To just skip town after what happened. But Scott insisted there was safety in numbers.
It killed Scarlett to not be where she wanted to be. It killed her to be left wondering. Wondering if he was really dead. If Derek was really dead...
Scarlett jumped when she felt a hand land on her shoulder. She turned in her seat to see Stiles behind her, giving her a concerned look.
"Just making sure you're still breathing." He had noticed that she had been statuesque still and it worried him. It worried Scott too but he could barely move himself.
"I'm fine." Scarlett answered in a cold, void of emotion, voice.
"Well Scott's not." Stiles told her, looking back at Scott who was leaning against the window, his face evidently showing the pain he felt.
Scarlett turned around to look at her brother. Just because she didn't want to feel didn't mean she didn't care. "You're bleeding."
"And bleeding means not healing." Stiles added on. "Like, at all."
"He's listening." Scott jerked his head to Ethan who was sitting a few seats in front of them on the other side of the bus. Scarlett looked over and so did Stiles.
"Well is he going to do anything?" Stiles asked.
"Not in front of this many people." Scott answered. Scarlett glared at Ethan, her whole body tense. He was part of the reason Derek was dead. Despite him not being the direct cause, he was still a part of the Alpha pack. And they were the reason she would never see the love of her life again.
"What about the two…three," Stiles whispered, glancing at Scarlett and noticing the hatred that filled her eyes as she looked at Ethan. Who knows what'd she do. "Ticking time bombs sitting right near him.
"No, they won't. Not here." Scott assured him.
"Okay, well, what if they do? Are you gonna stop them?" Stiles asked, incredulous.
Scott looked at him seriously. "If I have to."
The bus jolted again as it came to a stop. There was a huge traffic jam. It looked like they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Which meant Scarlett had to be stuck on this bus that seemed to be getting smaller and smaller with every passing moment.
"What're you doing?" Stiles asked as Scott stood up abruptly.
"It's Boyd. He's gonna do something."
"What? How do you know?" Stiles questioned, looking over at Boyd.
"Look at his hands." Scott instructed. Stiles did what he was told and sure enough Boyd's claws were out and digging into the seat in front of him, almost as if he was trying to control himself but not having an easy time doing so.
While Scott walked over to stop Boyd from doing something he would regret, Scarlett leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes, being plagued by the image of Derek falling to his death as soon as she did.
She remembered his glowing, red eyes locking on to hers as he lost his footing on the ledge. She remembered herself lurching forward as she screamed 'no.' As if it would do anything. As if it would have stopped him from falling. But she had been so far away, there was no way she could have saved him. As she watched him fall, so many images flashed through her mind.
Seeing Derek for the first time in the woods, getting a ride home from him after a party, talking to him in her pyjamas, kissing him for the very first time while he was in a jail cell, crying when she thought the Alpha had killed him, patching up his wounds and then sleeping with him for the first time and remembering all the amazing feelings that came with that. She saw Derek's eyes turning red when he became an Alpha. And then she saw herself confessing her love for Derek and him saying it back and remembering she had never felt happier or more alive. She remembered every kiss, every argument, every whisper of 'I love you.' She remembered the time they spent together in New York…the smiles, the laugh, the sex. All of it. And then she remembered breaking up with him and how she felt him slip away. And when she could no longer see him falling she felt every happy memory she had of him slip away too.
Scarlett's eyes flew open when she couldn't take it anymore. She saw Scott heading back towards his seat and she wiped a tear from her eye.
"We have another problem." Stiles announced. "Ethan keeps checking his phone like every five minutes. It's like he waiting, for a message or a signal of some kind…something evil, I have a very perceptive eye for evil, you know that."
"I don't like the fact that he's sitting with Danny." Scarlett said sombrely, knowing they could hear her even though she didn't turn around.
"Me either." Stiles agreed. "I'm gonna find out what he's waiting for." Stiles took his phone out and began texting Danny.
After a full two minutes of continuous text noises, Stiles received a reply. "Ennis?" Scott asked, gaining Scarlett's attention. When Derek fell, he had taken Ennis with him and if Ennis was still alive then maybe Derek was too. All of a sudden, a small, microscopic weight felt like it was being lifted from Scarlett.
"Does that mean…"
"He's not dead." Scott confirmed.
"Not yet." Stiles countered.
"Now the rest of you!" Coach shouted, gaining the attention of the students on the bus. "Don't think we're gonna miss this meet just because of a slight traffic jam, a minor tornado warning...Jared." He said with disgust, motioning towards the boy who was car sick. "We're gonna make this thing! Nothing is gonna stop us! Stilinski, put your hand down!"
"You know there's like a food exit about a half a mile up, I don't know if maybe we stop and then maybe the traffic- "
"We're not gonna stop." Coach interrupted, not wanting to hear Stiles' idea.
Stiles rolled his eyes. "Okay, but if we stop- "
"Stilinski!" Coach blew his whistle. "Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!"
"I hate him." Stiles said as he sat back in his seat, trying to not let Coach's inability to listen to anyone other than himself get to him. "Did you call Deaton?" Stiles asked when Scott groaned in pain again.
"I keep getting his voicemail." Scott told him.
"Alright, that's it. I'm calling Lydia and Allison." Stiles said, taking his phone out of his pocket.
"How are they gonna help?" Scott queried. "They're back in Beacon Hills."
"No, they're not. They've been following us for hours." Stiles explained, looking behind him to see Allison's car behind the bus. "Pathetic." He mumbled.
Upon hearing that Allison and Lydia were following the bus, Scarlett turned around to look out the back window, seeing Allison's car. She shook her head. Of course they were following them. Not only was Allison worried about Scott after seeing him get hurt, but Scarlett knew they both wanted to keep close tabs on her. Scarlett's two best friends had spent the night with her, trying to comfort her while she cried and Scarlett appreciated that because it showed just how much they cared. But stalking her? That was a little extreme.
Stiles called Lydia and she answered on the first ring. She had obviously made up some lie about where they were but Stiles didn't take it.
"Look, I know you're right behind us. Put me on speaker." He demanded. "Scott's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse. The blood's turning like a black colour."
"Well, what's wrong with him?" Lydia asked, causing Stiles to shake his head.
"What? Do I have a PHD in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know what's wrong with him?" Stiles asked, incredulous.
"We need to get him off the bus." Allison concluded.
"And take him where?" Scarlett heard Lydia ask. "A hospital?"
"If he's dying, yeah." Allison confirmed for her. Scarlett's blood ran cold. Scott couldn't die. She wouldn't let that happen. She refused to lose another person she loved. She wouldn't be able to take that kind of pain. She was barely holding it together over Derek but if Scott died…she couldn't even think about it. "Stiles there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the coach to pull over."
"Yeah, I've been trying to." Stiles said.
"Well, reason with him." Allison suggested.
Stiles pulled a face. "Reason with him? Have you met this guy?" He found Allison's suggestion absolutely absurd. Especially because they were talking about Coach, who wouldn't know reason if it slapped him in the face.
"Just try something." Allison snapped before she and Lydia hung up.
Stiles groaned and shook his head, putting his phone back in his pocket and standing up.
Scott put his arm out to stop Stiles. "What're you doing?" He asked.
"I'm gonna convince Coach to pull over." Stiles said, not sounding like he believed in himself. Scott moved his arm, allowing Stiles to walk to the front of the bus to confront Coach. "Coach, it's five minutes for a bathroom break. We've been on this thing for like three hours and-" Coach blew the whistle in Stiles' face, making him cringe. "It's sixty miles to the next rest stop-" Coach blew the whistle again. "Being cooped up for hours is not good-" The whistle went again. "You know our bladders aren't exactly-" Stiles was becoming annoyed. "Coach-" Coach blew the whistle and continued to blow it every time Stiles began to say something. "Let me talk!" Stiles groaned, making Coach laugh before blowing the whistle for an exaggerated amount of time.
"Back to your seat Stilinski!"
"Okay!" Stiles shouted right back at him.
"And Jared, keep your eyes on the horizon." Coach reminded Jared, making Stiles stop as he thought of an idea that would mean Coach had to pull over
"Hey Jared," Stiles said as he sat down next to him. "How ya doing?"
Two minutes later an awful, disgusting, sick smell reached the nose of every other student on the bus and Coach was forced to tell the driver to pull into the next rest stop.
Scarlett and Stiles helped Scott out of the bus, trying to make sure no one saw his wound that was gushing black blood. Allison and Lydia were next to them almost immediately, helping to take Scott away from the other students and into the bathroom.
They sat Scott on the floor of the bathroom, leaning him against the wall. He looked dizzy as Allison lifted up his shirt to reveal two large slashed that were wide open, oozing out thick, black liquid and were surrounded by black veins.
"Oh my God…" Allison whispered in shock. "Why didn't you tell us?"
Scarlett glanced at the wound and immediately had to look away. It was profoundly disgusting and it didn't look like it was going to be healing any time soon. In fact, it actually looked like it had been infected.
"I'm sorry…" Scott murmured.
"Okay, just give me a second." Allison whispered to him, getting up and walking towards the other three teens. "This shouldn't be happening. I've seen him heal from worse."
"What do we do? Just call an ambulance?" Stiles asked.
"What if it's too late? What if they can't help?" Allison asked frantically, running her fingers through her hair.
Scarlett's eyes widened. "Well we can't just let him die." She protested.
"You know; it could be psychological." Lydia said.
"What, you mean like psychophamatic?" Stiles pondered.
"Psychosomatic." Scarlett corrected him. Stiles waited for an explanation of the word.
"A psychical illness from a psychogenic cause." Lydia explained as if it were common knowledge. Stiles gave her a blank look, waiting for her to dumb it down so he understood.
"It's all in his head." Scarlett filled in for him.
"Because of Derek." Stiles came to a conclusion that made Scarlett tense. "He's not letting himself heal because Derek died." It was one thing for Derek to die but for his death to then cause Scott's…that was too much to handle.
"Okay, so what do we do?" Allison asked.
Lydia immediately started searching in her bag for something, soon pulling out a needle and thread. "Stitch him up." She shrugged. Allison looked as if she might pass out. "I'm serious. Maybe all he needs to do is believe it's healing."
"Are you sure about this?" Scarlett asked Lydia.
"No, but there's only one way to find out." She answered honestly.
"Okay, I'll do it." Allison said, letting out a shaky breath.
"Are you sure?" Scarlett asked her with a worried look. She knew Allison was just as panicked as she was and it was going to take steady hands to stitch Scott up.
"Yeah." Allison confirmed, taking the needle and thread from Lydia and taking out a lighter from her bag, burning the tip of the needle to kill all of the bacteria on it.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Stiles questioned Allison.
"Yes, my father taught me. He's going to need another shirt, where's his bag?" Allison asked, not wasting any time.
"Uh, I'll go get it…I hate needles anyway." Stiles told her, looking queasy as he looked at the needle and then at Scott who looked like he was in some drug-induced state. "How fast are you gonna be able to do this…like, the bus, the bus could leave."
"Okay well just make sure it doesn't leave." Allison told him.
"I can help. Come on." Lydia said, grabbing Scarlett and Stiles' arms and dragging them outside. Lydia knew that Scarlett shouldn't stay and watch her brother being sewn up. She didn't think it was fair to put her through something like that so soon after Derek's untimely death. Upon seeing the worried look on Scarlett's face, she sat her down on one of the benches and took her hands in her own. "He will be fine, Scar. Allison knows what she's doing. She going to stitch him up and he's gonna heal."
"You don't know that." Scarlett said, shaking her head. She wanted to believe her brother would be fine. She wanted to believe that she would never lose him but she also thought she would never lose Derek nut she did, so she was in no position to be hopeful. Not after what she'd been through.
"I promise you, you will not lose him." Lydia said, keeping her voice calm and strong for her friend. She didn't know if it would work either, but she had to have hope.
Stiles walked over to them right after he had given Scott's bag to Allison. "Chin up, Scar." He said, quite literally tilting her chin up so she wasn't staring at the ground anymore. "Scott always pulls through." Scarlett knew he was right. Scott always did pull through but she couldn't stop herself from thinking the worst was about to happen. "Come on, we need to make sure the bus doesn't leave."
The three teens walked over to the bus and just kind of stood there, watching everyone else slowly make their way back to the bus. And then eventually, Coach blew his whistle, shouting for everyone to get back on bus immediately so they could be on their way. Scarlett, Lydia and Stiles all gave each other a look. Allison and Scott weren't back yet so they couldn't leave.
"Go and see if Allison's finished yet. I'll stall Coach." Stiles said, making his way over to Coach while the girls ran over to the bathroom, sighing with relief when they saw Allison emerge, allowing Scott to lean on her. At the sight of her brother looking so much better and not on the verge of death, Scarlett smiled and ran forward to hug him.
"Are you okay, Scotty?" She asked, searching his face for any sign of pain.
"I'm fine," He laughed. "Thanks to Allison." Scarlett took his bag off of his shoulder and handed it to Lydia before taking his other arm and placing it over her shoulder so that she and Allison were both supporting him. "Where's Stiles?"
"He's trying to stall Coach. The bus is about to leave." Lydia explained. "And we still don't have gas." She reminded Allison.
"I'm not leaving him." Allison told her.
Lydia's eyes widened. "Then we have to leave the car."
"Sounds good." Allison said, continuing to walk forward with Scott and Scarlett, leaving Lydia to stand with a face full of shock before she groaned and ran after them.
The three in front reached Stiles first and they were confused when they heard shouting and saw a crowd of people next to the bus.
"What happened?" Scott asked.
"He just went after him." Stiles said, shaking his head.
"Boyd?" Scott asked, getting out of the girls' grip and pushing through the crowd, followed by Scarlett and Allison, to see Isaac on top of Ethan, beating him to a pulp. This time, there was no denying that Isaac had actually attacked Ethan. Scarlett just assumed he wasn't capable of it. Apparently, she was wrong.
"Isaac, Isaac!" Coach shouted. "Knock it off!" He tried to pull Isaac away from Ethan, as did Danny, but he just pushed them both away and continued to punch Ethan's face to a pulp.
"Isaac!" Scott's voice boomed, silencing the crowd that was encouraging Isaac and making Isaac stop punching Ethan.
Isaac stood back, allowing Danny to rush to Ethan's side, as he looked at Scott and the crowd that surrounded him. Inaudible whispers swept through the crowd like the wind.
Seeing Isaac beating up Ethan and seeing all the blood reminded Scarlett of last night. Of all the blood-shed, of how when she and Allison arrived, it looked like their side was losing miserably.
Scarlett stood at Allison's door, her breathing unsteady as she waited impatiently for someone to answer.
The door finally swung open to reveal Allison, already fully kitted out in hunter fashion, completed with her signature bow and arrow. Scarlett sighed with relief as she saw Allison had the same idea as she did.
"Let's go help our friends." Allison said, taking Scarlett's hand as she shut the door and walked out.
Scarlett had her bow in her car already, along with some Chinese ring daggers and other bits and pieces of hunter gear that Allison had sneaked out of her apartment to give to her a few weeks earlier.
"My father doesn't want us involved." Allison told Scarlett as they drove to the abandoned mall where they knew this fight was going down. Scarlett didn't know what to expect when she got there, but she was ready for anything.
"He wants to keep you safe." Scarlett assured her. "But he has to understand that I can't just sit back and not do everything in my power to help the people I love and neither can you."
Allison nodded. "Are you ready for this?"
"What's the worst that could happen?"
They both heard the fighting as they crept around the back of the large building. They made gestures to each other, showing their plans through hand movements, not wanting to make any noise that would give away their presence. They found a fire escape and they climbed up it silently, opening the door and heading inside.
They knew that the fighting was happening on the floor below them. They swung their bows and arrows off of their backs, they both pulled their strings back, giving each other a final look of encouragement before walking forward. They evaluated the situation first. Derek was the last one on their side standing. Everyone else had been pinned down by the Alphas.
"What will it be, Derek?" Kali asked, her bare foot on Cora's chest. "Pack? Or family?" She began applying pressure to Cora's chest. Derek looked torn. He was stuck between a rock and hard place with absolutely no way to escape. And that's when Scarlett decided to intervene. She raised her bow and let an arrow fly, it hit wall right next to Kali and the Alpha screamed as the arrow sparked in her eyes. Allison quickly followed suit, letting loose arrows of her own, causing just the distraction needed for their friends to get back on their feet and gain the upper hand.
"Your eyes!" The leader of the Alphas, Deucalion, shouted. "Cover your eyes!"
Derek looked up to where the arrows came from and his eyes met Scarlett. He nodded in appreciation for her help and she gave a sly smile back before he turned and the fighting resumed.
Scarlett and Allison were about to walk away but they both stopped and turned back when they heard a they heard a thunderous crash. Like two boulders knocking into each other. Scarlett turned just in time to see Ennis and Scott falling back after crashing into each other. As Scarlett watched her brother land in a crouched position she could have sworn on her own life she saw his eyes turn blood red. The colour of an Alpha's eyes.
She didn't understand how it was possible. Scott wasn't an Alpha and he certainly hadn't killed one, therefore there was no explanation behind the colour change. Scott shook his head and his eyes returned to his usual brilliant golden colour.
With Ennis distracted, Derek took that as his chance to get rid of him. He ran at Ennis, knocking into his back and continuing his fight against him. All eyes were on the two Alphas as they fought, nearing the edge of the floor they were on.
Scarlett's breath hitched as she watched them struggle. She saw Scott, rushing towards them, falling on the ground and using his claws to slash the back of Ennis' leg. That's what made him lose his footing. He faltered and fell back, not letting go of Derek and they both began to fall.
"NO!" Scarlett felt herself scream almost falling off of the floor she was on before Allison, wide-eyed in shock, yanked her back from the edge.
Scarlett fell to her knees as her eyes locked with Derek's. The red colour of his eyes faded away and one last time, she saw the beautiful sea-green that she so often got lost in.
It wasn't long after that, that the Alphas cleared out, leaving the group of friends in shock. Scarlett rushed down the stairs as fast as she could and was about to make her way down to Derek before she was pulled back by Scott, who kept his arms locked around her. She refused to be dissuaded from her path so easily and elbowed his stomach, surprising him and making him lose his grip on her. Isaac was next to stand in front of her, blocking her way. She fought against him relentlessly but eventually, Allison and Scott were there again to pull her back, despite her screams of protest.
Cora watched as this girl, that she had never met, fought with all she had to get to her brother's body. She wondered who the hell she was, since Derek hadn't mentioned her. She knew they couldn't be together, since Derek really hadn't been out of Cora's sight since they found her. She wondered if maybe they had been together and they broke up and maybe that's why Derek was being so cold and cruel. Whatever it was, there was definitely some kind of bond between the two. Or at least there had been.
After the fight had been broken up, everyone made their way back onto the bus. Lydia gently took Scarlett's hand, giving her a look that asked if she was okay. Scarlett nodded and Lydia squeezed her hand in encouragement.
They hadn't been on the bus for long before Stiles started up again with his human sacrifices theory. He sat across from Lydia and Scarlett while Scott and Allison sat behind them.
"Okay, so let's go over this one more time." Stiles said to Lydia who rolled her eyes and sighed. "So it's the sacrifices, right? Everything has to do with them and someone who thinks he's like a dark druid or something."
"Or, actually is a dark druid." Lydia added.
"A darach." Scarlett clarified.
"You know, in some ancient cultures, they would sacrifice people in preparation for battle." Lydia informed them both.
"So we've got Alpha werewolves against a dark druid." Stiles concluded with a beat look.
"Yeah." Lydia and Scarlett said at the same time.
