So I've been trying to figure out a way to bring in Matt & Simon & etc back into the story but I don't want the gang to leave Ashe's just yet so I'm totally lost on what to do because they obviously can't come onto the werewolf territory. Anyone got ideas or should we just leave Ashe behind? She wouldn't leave the pack and go somewhere with them since she's alpha.
We walked a ways in silence before Derek finally said, "Where on earth are we supposed to be looking? We can't just go building to building."
I gestured at their meeting hall that was up ahead.
"That's where Ashe works a lot, I bet her guards are there. They would know where she lives, since she's probably home with Tess doing laundry still."
"We don't need Ashe," Jeremy replied. "We need to look for Emma."
"Do you have a better idea than going building to building?" I asked.
Jeremy mumbled something but I ignored it.
"Hey!" Someone shouted from behind us.
I turned around to see the girl from the graveyard, Anna, walking our way.
"What are you looking at?" Derek asked concerned.
"A ghost," I answered. "Her names Anna, she knew Elijah."
Anna came up to us smiling, "Finally someone who can hear me."
"Hi," I smiled. "Nice to see you again."
Derek stepped in the direction I was facing and turned to face me, probably so anyone passing by wouldn't think I was talking to thin air.
"I thought it would be nice to see everyone again," she said. "And it was, but it got depressing fast. I wish I could communicate with them. There's no purpose in watching them live their lives without me."
"Well would you want to help us out?" I asked. "It'd take your mind off them for a bit."
Jeremy mumbled something about not being included in the conversation. Derek shot him a look.
"That'd be fun, what're you guys doing? Or can they not hear me either?"
"They can't. We're looking for our friend, we don't know where she is."
"Oh that girl from the cemetery? I saw her not five minutes ago walking past the store."
"She's seen Emma," I told the boys.
Derek looked puzzled, wondering how this ghost knew what Emma looked like. I realized I don't think he knew about us visiting the graveyard.
"This way," Anna said as she started walking.
I followed her, the boys followed me.
"How does this ghost know Emma?" Derek asked.
"We met her together, when Elijah took us out 'n about before getting drunk."
Derek nodded and tapped my nose with his finger, "You can probably take those out now."
I'd forgotten the tissues were up my nose still actually. I smiled embarrassed, pulled them out, and shoved the tissues in my pocket. I couldn't just drop them on the ground and liter. Anna went on and on about her family members and how much they'd grown and changed since she last saw them. She was a mixture of happy and sad, it made me want to push her back over to the afterlife. Maybe she'd be better off there. But was that really my decision to make?
"Here," she said stopping in front of a building. "This is our grocery store. I mean, our version of it at least."
"Maybe she's inside," Jeremy said.
He didn't wait for an answer, he walked right in. Derek, Anna, and I followed him in. It seemed to be like a normal small grocery store to me, though there weren't price tags anywhere.
"There's no price tags," I said.
Derek nodded, "Yeah, I think they must use a barter system. Everyone gets their share of the food as long as they provide a service. Extra work would mean extra food."
Jeremy turned down an aisle and walked smack into someone.
"Watch it," they growled.
"Emma!" Jeremy threw his arms around her. "I knew you had to be in here."
She patted him on the back and smiled at me. "Glad to see you up and moving."
"What're you doing in here?" I asked.
She shook a little bottle in her hand as Jeremy finally let go of her, "Smelling salts. When I couldn't find Tess or Elijah, I thought I'd find these, I swear I heard once that these woke people up."
"That says sea salt," Jeremy pointed out.
"Oh," she frowned. "Well it's a good thing we didn't need them then."
I looked at Derek, "I'm going to talk to Anna privately for a second, ok?"
He nodded. I rounded a corner into a different aisle, Anna followed.
"What is it?" She asked.
I took a deep breath, "Do you want to stay here or would you be happier on the other side? You seem so sad, I'd hate for you to get stuck here."
She shrugged, "I don't know where I was before you brought me here. But it was better than this."
"I can help you get back there," I said.
"Give me a few more days," she asked. "I'm not ready to leave just yet. This will be my last chance to see them ever again."
"You know where to find me when you're ready," I smiled, feeling better now that I knew her side and wasn't making a decision for her. Anna wasn't happy with being invisible but she wasn't ready to let go yet.
"I do," she nodded and started walking away.
I rejoined the others and found Jeremy with his arm around Emma. She wasn't giving him the cold shoulder anymore I guess. I suggested that we got food, I was starving. Everyone agreed and we worked our way back to the hospital right as Tess showed up.
"What're you guys doing?" Tess asked.
"Just out for some fresh air," Derek answered first. "It was a long day."
"Can't wait to hear about it at dinner," Tess said as we walked inside. "Ashe invited us all over for a movie night tonight if you guys are interested."
Everyone was nodding, excited for a change of scenery. I squeezed Derek's hand to get his attention and shook my head, I was too tired.
"You guys go ahead," Derek said. "I think Chloe needs some rest."
We sat down at the table full of our leftovers from breakfast and started eating.
"Everything ok sweetie?" She asked me.
I nodded, "I'm just exhausted from today."
Tess' curiosity was peaked so we launched into the story of the days events as we ate. We told her about the phone call, my efforts to help out, the hours of time I was missing, their efforts to wake me, and everything in between. Jeremy made sure to mention the sea salt and poke fun at Emma.
After all the food was gone, Tess showed me a buzzer on the side of her hospital bed that we could use to order more food in case we got hungry. Then she left with Jeremy and Emma.
We sat down on my bed and Derek pulled out his laptop.
"What're you doing?" I asked with a yawn.
"Well you don't want to sit in dead silence, do you?" He asked.
He typed for a second then set the laptop on the bed as a movie began.
"Are you sure you're still feeling ok?" Derek asked.
I nodded and shrugged, "I'm just dead tired."
Derek placed his left hand under my chin and put his right index finger under my nose. When he pulled it away it was red.
"That's why I asked," he said wiping the blood on his jeans.
I hadn't even noticed that my nose was bleeding again. I took the tissue he handed me and shoved it up my nose.
"That's probably a sign I'm not ok," I sighed.
"Well even if you're gross and bloody, I'll still love you," he smiled, trying to joke.
We got cozy under the blanket and watched the movie. I don't know exactly at what point Derek fell asleep but I noticed him softly snoring after awhile. I was glad that he wasn't worrying to death over me, I think my being completely upfront about how I felt was helping his anxiety. Derek didn't like things hidden from him.
Eventually my exhaustion took over and I drifted off too. I was rudely woken up sometime later by the end credits playing rock and roll music. I reached over to the laptop and clicked out of the movie. Feeling pretty awake now, I scrolled through movies for a minute before clicking play on one of the Harry Potter movies.
As I adjusted the laptop to make sure it wouldn't fall off the bed if I fell back asleep, I felt that gut sensation of needing to throw up. I quickly got out of the bed and ran to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet in time.
"Chloe?!" I heard from the doorway moments later. My racing to the bathroom must've woken Derek up.
I threw up two more times before finally lifting my head from the toilet to grab some toilet paper to wipe my face off with.
"Sorry if I woke you," I said.
Derek came in and sat on the ground beside me. His hand snaked under the back of my shirt and touched my lower back. His finger tips moved in soft gentle circles.
"Never apologize for waking me up. Do you feel better or do you want to stay here for a minute?"
I tapped the toilet seat with my finger as I laid my head against the cool seat. Probably a really gross thing to do but I didn't care right now I didn't want his hand to stop, it felt so soothing. We sat there for a few minutes until I dry heaved into the toilet.
"Ok," he said softly after a few minutes of nothing happening. "Let's get you some water and back to bed."
I nodded and grabbed the edge of the counter to stand.
"Oh no, its princess treatment time," he smiled and scooped me up. Derek carried me back to the bed and set me down. He filled a cup with water and gave it to me to hold as he tucked the blanket around me, took the blanket off his bed and tucked it around me too, got a trash can on my side of the bed, and hit Tess' buzzer to request crackers. "Sip slow."
I took a tiny sip to get the nasty taste from my mouth as Derek got back in bed beside me.
"What's wrong with me?" I asked.
Derek sighed before answering, "Do you really want to hear my theories?"
I nodded.
"Well, I see a few possibilities. One, you're just genuinely sick with the flu. Two, you're more drained than you realize from everything you've been doing with your power so your body needs time to bounce back and get healthy again. Three, you were infected with the werewolf gene one of those times you kissed me or when Jeremy bit you; but you had so much necromancy power built up in you that it was suppressing it. Now that your necromancy is drained, there's nothing holding it back and the virus is taking effect. Like remember how Elijah was worried losing your werewolfism would allow your vampirism to come back full force."
"Is that actually a real thing?" I asked taking another little sip.
"Well think of it like paint mixing," Derek tried his best to explain his reasoning. "If we have a jug of white paint and add a spoonful of black paint, eventually the paint would mix into a shade of gray. But if we have that jug of white paint, mix in a spoonful of black but a gallon of purple, that black means virtually nothing. It can't compete against the purple when you just keep adding more and more and more."
I nodded, I wasn't sure if this was a possibility but since when has magic been scientifically accurate.
"Will you be mad at me if its not number three?" I was unable to look directly at him as I asked.
"Chloe," he said sadly. "Do you really think I'd be selfish enough to wish that life on you? I hope with all my heart that you've just got the flu."
