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I updated part two of An Awkward Weekend. Check it out!
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L.O.A.F.M
Chapter Thirty-Six
Common Ground
The rest of French class, I tried my hardest to focus on what Cass was talking about, but I was too distracted by Isaac's presence behind me. Cass and I decided a different hangout day since she has piano lessons after school, so basically, I spent the majority of the period avoiding the gaze of Mrs. Argent and ignoring Isaac's attempt at starting conversations with me.
After Trig class ended, I met up with Allison, my brother and Scott in the library, literally the only place that we can meet secretly. It made me feel like a spy. Anyway, it was time that I explain everything that I told Lydia.
Allison and I stood at the same side of the shelf, while we spoke to Scott and Stiles on the other side. Allison discreetly put her tablet through the shelf to Scott. "This is everything that she could translate. And she hasn't spoken to us since she got here."
All eyes were on me. "Well? What did you tell her?" Scott asked me calmly.
"I told her about Jackson's condition and that he was dangerous and that it's not his own doing. I told her that you guys were trying to help." I explained carefully. "She was confused, but when she asked for major details, I told her that my answer would do some permanent damage to her psyche. But at this stage, I doubt that it will be long before she figures something out."
"What do you mean?" Scott asked in confusion.
"I mean, hasn't anyone noticed that Lydia has been acting weird?" I looked around at the slightly confused teenagers. "I mean, come on guys! I know we've been dealing with Derek and Jackson AND Gerard doesn't mean that Lydia's immunity should go unnoticed. The bite morphed Jackson, who's to say that it didn't mess with Lydia?"
Realization finally dawned on them. I really am the smarter one in this group. "I never thought of it that way." Allison muttered. I looked to Scott, who said, "If anything, just keep an eye on her, you're probably right."
"Probably." I smiled arrogantly.
"Okay, so about Jackson. Does it say how to find out who's controlling him?" Scott inquired while skimming the pages.
"Not really. But Ellie was right about the murderers thing."
"Yes!" I whispered cheerfully.
"It calls the Kanima a weapon of vengeance. There's a story in there about this South American priest who uses the Kanima to execute murderers in his village–" Allison told us.
"All right, see? So maybe it's not all that bad." Stiles commented, but he spoke too soon.
"-Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to." Allison finished. There's always a catch to these things.
"All bad, all very, very bad." He said afterwards.
"Here's the thing, though. The Kanima's actually supposed to be a werewolf. But it can't be-" Scott finished for her, "Until it resolves that in its past which manifested it."
"Okay, if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy, I could've told
you that myself." I nodded along in agreement with my twin.
"What if– It has something to do with his parents? His real parents." Allison suggested.
"Yeah, does anybody actually know what happened to them?" Scott asked us.
"Well Erica's father is the most decent insurance agent in Beacon Hills." I told him solemnly. When it seemed that no one wanted to go talk to Erica, most of us did what we always do.
We elected my brother.
"Oh, come on." Stiles whined. Then he points at me, whispering, "She's your friend."
"Former." I retorted sadly, not looking anyone in the eye. "She has a crush on you."
He looked at me curiously, "She does?"
"Sorry." I shrugged. "Had. But, she's probably not over it."
"If that doesn't work, I'll talk to Jackson." Allison offers. "He doesn't have a restraining order on me."
"Why can't you just talk to Lydia?" Scott doesn't like the idea of her near him. I'm not really surprised.
"If she knows something, I doubt that she'll tell us." I told them. "She respects privacy. Allison might have a better chance with Jackson..." I trailed off when I saw the annoyed look on Scott's face.
"You have a makeup exam, remember? I'll be fine." Allison reassures Scott.
Scott relents begrudgingly. "If he does anything, you run the other way."
"I can take care of myself."
"Allison, if you get hurt while I'm busy with some stupid test, someone's going to need to take care of me. If he does anything–"
"Like?" Allison says. I almost snort.
"Anything– Weird or bizarre– anything." Scott tells her.
"Anything evil!" Stiles pokes his head through the shelf. I rolled my eyes and shoved his head back in. "Ah– Ow!"
"We'll meet at my house after school." I promised them.
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I was the only one with a free period, so I went out to the Lacrosse field. I sat on the slightly cool bench and watched the soccer team practice. I would go stalk Lydia, but she was in Economics and I'm sure Finstock would notice. He has Ellie radar. It freaks me out. Allison forwarded the translated files to me and I took a look at them. There has to be something that we're missing. I'm gonna start a list. I took out my notebook and turned to the last page in the book.
The Usual Suspects. I scribbled, then erased it. This is not a movie.
Suspect List. Okay, simple enough.
1. Gerard.
Because he is borderline evil.
2. Matt.
He discovered the lost footage. And he's a creep that I believe stalks Allison. He stares at her a lot. And it is obvious that he's into her.
3. Someone who is behind the scenes.
I named people we knew. It could be someone we don't know.
I groaned in frustration. This detective work is a lot harder than I thought. Investigating requires evidence from the victims and connecting them to each other. Like in Supernatural. Yeah, it's a tv show but I think it's not that hard.
Besides the part where I'd have to check real dead bodies.
I was startled by footsteps coming from the side of the bleachers. Judging by the height of the person, it wasn't that hard to figure out who it was.
"Your stalking knows no bounds, huh?" I say, not looking up from my notebook. I see Isaac shrug from the corner of my eye and I look at him.
"I just want to talk." He said, unperturbed by the accusation in my voice. I stretch out my legs onto the lower step and cross them, smoothing out my skirt.
"Sorry, but I came out here to be alone." I told him in annoyance. "So if you could please ..."
"Ellie." He begged. "Please."
I rolled my eyes and close my book, then looked at him. "What do you want?"
"I'm sorry." He says.
That's it?
What a prick.
"For what?" I say sarcastically. "For almost killing Allison and for trying to hurt my brother? How about the way you go from being the person I knew, to being a complete dick?"
"Any of it." He held my gaze. "All of it. Whatever you'll accept my apology for."
He had that painfully adorable look that guys have when they don't know if they said right thing. Scott used to kill me with that look and it's a lot worse with Isaac and his soul-sucking icy blues.
God help me.
I tentatively patted the space next to me, inviting him to take a seat. I smooth my skirt down once more as he sat down. "What you working on?"
I moved my notebook to the spot next to me. "Nothing really. Just catching up on homework." The lie slipped easily out of my mouth.
"You forget that I have a personal lie detector."
"Well then, you should probably ask me a different question." I look away from him. "That one's off limits."
"You know who it is." He stated, changing the subject. "Derek wanted us to find out."
I sharply turned my head toward him. "I'm surprised you would tell me."
"You see, I'm trying this new thing where I'm straightforward with people." He mocked me from earlier.
"I appreciate it." I was silent and thoughtful on the outside, but I was completely pissed on the inside. Like seriously? Derek was still using dirty underhanded tricks to get information from us. Ok, I'm sick of this. I had only a lunch period and English left in the day. "Come on." I told Isaac, standing up and gathering my stuff.
"Where are we going?" Isaac asks, following me down the stairs.
"We're going to pay 'ole fearless leader' a visit." I had to take the keys from my brother's locker, considering I didn't drive here. If Derek wanted to know something, he was going to have to ask me to my face.
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"You look nervous over there." I commented as I drove through the downtown area.
"I'm not nervous, just anxious." About what? I guess he could tell that we were in a confused silence, so he elaborated. "About how this is all going to play out. Take a right here."
I took the corner and glanced at him. "I'm not going to say anything crazy. I just want to give him a piece of my mind. And then I'm going to propose a deal."
"What kind of deal?" He asks curiously.
I shrug one of my shoulders. "Depends on how the conversation goes."
"One more right," He instructed, "then straight ahead." His directions put us into the more deserted parts of the town, where the iron works and abandoned buildings were located. Honestly, I wasn't surprised. Derek lived in his charred childhood home after he came back to Beacon Hills, why would anyone put it past him to station his pack in an abandoned building in the isolated part of town?
"Right here." He exits the car and walks over to the large door in front. He pauses, noticing that I am not behind him. I take the key out of the ignition and step out, and close the door loudly. I wanted him to hear me.
"What is she doing here?" I whirled around to face Derek. I raised my eyebrow slightly, taking in the sight of him. Derek Hale looked almost completely the same. As attractive as ever. But something was different about his eyes. They held their usual clouded pain, but there was age to them. Understandably, he was kind of parenting three teenagers.
"Nice to see you too, sour wolf." I rolled my eyes. Derek frowned at the nickname and glanced over at Isaac.
"She figured it out." Isaac told him. "It was probably a bad idea from the― I will just stop talking now."
"Blue eyes has a point there." I added as I nodded over to Isaac..
"What do you want?" Derek asked me, rudely. Gosh, he's always in a sour mood. "Since I assume that you're not here to divulge any secrets."
"Well, I wouldn't always assume the worst." I murmured. "I want to negotiate."
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"Why should I trust anything you say?" Was the first thing that came out of his mouth.
"Really?" I huffed in irritation, "Are we still doing this?" Okay, I'm going to have to go down the list. "Ok, one you have no other options! Two, duh, we have the same enemies. And uh, don't forget, I've helped save your ass twice." Derek is stunned into a thoughtful silence, while Isaac is standing there leaning on the doorway to the train with a proud smirk on his face. "Now, would the class like to argue with that logic?"
Derek looks at me pensively, and I re-cross my legs impatiently. He slowly looks up my body until his gaze landed on my eyes. I look away awkwardly, trying to prevent the heat from filling my cheeks. He sighs in defeat, "I'm listening."
"First, I need you to promise me some things."
"Okay ..."
"I'll tell you everything that you need to know if you promise me that you'll trust what I'm doing and ... that we keep this between us."
"You'll have to earn that trust." Derek reminds me.
"Right." I roll my eyes. "Okay, we stole Gerard's bestiary and uploaded it to Allison's tablet." I ignore the looks of wonder on their faces. "Hey, we're crafty. Anyway, we found something in there on the Kanima. It was a real page turner."
"Do you have it with you?"
"No." I shook my head. "Allison has it ..." My phone beeped in a message. Speak of the devil. "in detention." I looked up at them. "The Kanima is a creature that lacks the ability to control itself."
"Then if you know who it is you need to tell me." Derek says to me in a calmer tone.
I stared at him. "I wasn't finished. It says that where the wolf seeks an alpha, the Kanima seeks a master. Someone is controlling him, and they're making him kill people. The bestiary says that he's supposed to be a werewolf, but he can't be one until he 'resolves in that in its past that manifested it'."
"Can he any get stronger?" Derek demands.
"If the bond gets strong enough, yeah. He can kill without his master." I admitted slowly. "I'm working on connecting the murders. I'm following my dad's investigation, and with it, we can connect it to the master. It's our best shot."
"I need to know who it is." Derek insists.
"And I have to go. You said that you would trust me. I'm already on thin ice." I say, playing with the hem of my skirt.
"Why trust me then?" Derek asks, almost suspiciously.
"Because even though you and Scott disagree on this, he's too stubborn to admit that we need you." I say honestly. He nods. I sigh in relief. "I'm gonna go." I stand and walk toward the entrance with Isaac following me.
"That was very ... diplomatic of you." He says. I glance at him and he's wearing that stupid amused grin.
"Shut up." I smile. "I'm just tired of the lying and bickering. Derek and Scott just need to kiss and make-up already."
"I heard that!" Derek shouts from behind her.
"Point?" I shrug playfully.
"Annnd she's back." Isaac's smile never leaves his face.
"Damn right, I am." Ellie high-fived Isaac. Even Derek has to hide his smile.
"Yeaaaah yeah yeah yeah!/ I got a little piece of you-hoooo/And it's just like woo-hooo/Wam Bam! Thank you man!—" Slut Like You filled the already silent room as my phone rang. I grinned, trying to ignore the embarrassment from the inappropriate song. God, why does P!nk have to be so awesome? I fumbled to get my fingers into the small breast pocket of my denim jacket.
"Yeah?"
"Ellie, where are you?" My brother's semi-panicky voice came through my speaker.
I'm consorting with the enemy. "I'm ..." Shit! THINK! "at Chick-Fil-A's! I - uh, had a coupon."
"Erica is having a seizure! We're bringing her to Derek's!" Holy Shit!
"I thought that she didn't get those anymore? Is it bad? How did it happen?" We exchanged looks of worry and concern, and I was sure that the werewolves in the room were hearing this.
"Jackson got to her!" Double shit. "Look, meet us there. Check the aba-"
"I know, I know. Abandoned warehouses downtown." I said without thinking. "Dangerous and abandoned is totally Derek's thing." I added, shrugging when Derek glared at me.
"Okay, I'll see you there. We'll be there in a few minutes." He hung up and I was fast-walking to the car.
"Where are you going?" Isaac called after me. He caught me outside unlocking the door with my key.
"I just lied, Izzy." I murmured distractedly. "I have to make it believable." I finally managed to jiggle the lock enough to get the door open. I hopped in the driver's seat and put the car in ignition. I rolled the window down just in time to hear them from down the road. "Quick!" I called out to Izzy. "Pretend to harass me!"
"That's not too hard." He shrugged and leant into the driver's seat, with his arms resting on the frame. I was staring out the back window toward the corner I knew they were coming from. I could suddenly feel Izzy's gaze on the side of my head.
"I said harass me, not invade my personal space." I hissed, turning my head to his direction. I was startled by his closeness. He was now blankly staring into my eyes. "I-uh," I started, and narrowed my eyes when he began to smirk. "You're evil."
"Really?" He was amused. "I take that as a compliment coming from you." He gets out of my personal space when Allison's car pulls up behind me, and takes a step back.
Stiles opens the backseat door. "Some help please!" Isaac rushes to the aid of his fallen pack mate. While Scott exchanges a few words with Allison, I follow Izzy and my brother inside. Erica trembles and I grab onto her hand and squeeze as I keep the pace with them.
Erica looks at me, her eyes portraying the surprise we both feel.
"Bring her up here." Derek orders, and I let her hand go momentarily so that they could lay her down. My brother crouches down with Erica almost on his lap. I sit on the other side of Derek and reclaim her hand.
"Hold her up."
"Is she dying?" My brother asks Derek.
"She might, I– which is why this is gonna hurt." Derek used both hands to twist Erica's arm. She screamed loudly, and squeezed my hand. Exceptionally hard. Erica let go immediately, and I grimaced at the pain. Two out of four knuckles were bright red, and I couldn't even move my fingers.
"You broke her arm!" My brother exclaims. He sees my bruised knuckles. "Ellie you okay?"
"Peachy." I give him a half-assed smile.
"It'll trigger the healing process. I still gotta get the venom out. This is where it's really gonna hurt." Derek sinks his nails into her skin and squeezes. Erica yelps louder, causing Isaac to leave from the door frame. Her blood soaks the newspaper under her. Derek regards her apologetically, and Erica finally relaxes against my brother.
"Stiles," Erica pants, reaching for him. "you make a good batman." Erica looks at me and smiles apologetically.
I try to smile, but in the mirror I can see the grimace on my face. I leave the train, looking around for Isaac. I find him behind the train, sitting on a crane. "She's fine now."
"I know. I can hear the even breathing."
I remember werewolf hearing. "Right." I glance at Derek and Scott, who are talking at the moment.
"You seemed particularly concerned." Izzy commented.
"We were close friends." Izzy gives me a dry look. "Okay, so I thought she was being a bitch. But so am I sometimes. We all have our days."
"You're not." Izzy protests.
I scoffed. "I verbally abuse people. Repeatedly."
"I think it's funny." He shrugs.
My eyebrow rose. "I've verbally abused you before."
"Not even remotely as bad as I'm used to." Izzy leans his head against the train. Shit, I never say the right thing. I sigh and sit next to him.
"I'm sorry." I say, not being able to come up with anything better. He doesn't say anything back, he just stares. I cradle my hand and try my best to ignore the throbbing. However, I forgot that Izzy wouldn't be able to. He tenderly takes my hand into his, and my breath catches. I look up at him in question, but any protest I was about to make dies in my throat. His eyes hold mine, and he slowly brings my hand to his lips. It was excruciatingly slow, like he was waiting for me to stop him.
But I didn't.
It was just a soft and tender kiss. It was gentle, and it made me feel very wrong. Wrong, meaning I couldn't even identify what I was feeling. No, the kiss didn't possess any healing properties (although one wishes that it did), but it succeeded in my eyes trailing down to his lips. I didn't even know that I was moving closer to his face until I heard a familiar voice call my name.
I jumped, causing me to bump my head on the train. "Dammit."
Izzy sighs, "You okay?"
"Uh, yeah." I rubbed my head experimentally, realizing that there was no sore there. I was starting to back away. "Uh, I should go get this checked out."
"Ellie—"
I cut him off, knowing that he wanted to talk. "See you tomorrow." I keep walking to the exit and I give my brother the keys, no protests and climb into the back.
"Are you okay?" Scott asks, before wincing at the swollen knuckles and wrist. "Geez, that sucks."
"Yeah, that's what I get for grabbing a female werewolf's hand while she's in pain." I say lightly.
"You okay, though?" Scott asks once more. I nod patronizingly.
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"Do you need some Tylenol too?" My brother asks as he searches the bathroom cabinets. I now have the wrist guard on, along with two splints for the splint. "I mean, is it okay now?"
"I'll live." I growl. Scott and Stiles have been asking me since we left if I was okay. It was really pissing me off. I've had worse. "Next time someone asks me that, I'm gonna start throwing punches."
I hear two knocks on my door. "Come in, dad." My father walks in with his sheriff uniform on. "Hey, dad." Out of habit, I wave my left hand. He instantly identifies my injury.
"Whoa, whoa. What happened there?" Dad mode. "How does it feel?" I cringe in irritation and stow my good arm. I throw myself backwards onto the bed and decide to go for teenage angst instead of going postal on the sheriff.
"We'll talk outside." Stiles offers, and he leaves through my door with dad. I brood quietly as I recount the day's events.
I must have been fucking nuts today.
L.O.A.F.M
This was by FAR the most character development that I have done for Ellie since I started season 2! Anyways, you got your Dellie! There will be some sexy Dellie next chapter. I plan to write it into one chapter, if possible. The next chapter may take a while, I have another 5,000-6000 word chapter to write for my other story.
Next chapter: Sexy Dellie. Trash-talking Matt. Another secret mission! (Remember those?) Ellie dances … or tries.
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RealHuntress18