Alright errbody its time for me to get back into the writing game! I've got a fresh one for you here. I plan on starting this one and one other. But! Before I start the other I'm going to finish up a couple of other stories that have been sitting there on my profile for a while. Those of you who follow me, I am so glad that you are still willing to read some of my work. Hopefully my writing skills aren't too dusty.
Without a Muse
Summary: Chloe had become gothic after she had her period and could fully embrace her necromantic powers. Her and her best friend Nate were the type to hang out in cemeteries, chat with ghosts, things that most necromancers stayed away from, but Chloe wasn't afraid.
Derek was big and bulky, covered in acne and ingrown hairs as puberty had hit him hard as he was growing into his werewolf form. His one and only friend, his brother Simon, decided to ditch him once he became part of the popular crowd at their new school. While Derek was great in school, he was even better at art. But what could he do without a muse?
Part 1: Conscience
"Did you hear about the new kids going to our school?" Nate asked Chloe.
"Of course. This town is so small there is literally no way not to know." Chloe rolled her eyes at her friend. Nate was over at her house. He had spent the night before since it was their movie night. Her Dad was never home, but it wasn't much of a big deal anyway since Nate wasn't attracted to Chloe like that. People like Ryan Reynolds were more his speed. They both stood in the bathroom, leaning closely to the mirror to attempt a straight liner. It never really succeeded for Chloe, her hands were just a little too shaky, so she usually ended up smudging it purposefully instead.
"You think they'll be any good? Oh! What if they are, like, supernatural, like you." Nate gave a bright smile but Chloe just pursed her lips.
"I highly doubt it. My entire life I've been in this town and there's only one other person here who's like that. And don't go being nosey either! If it turns out they are, they might try to hurt you or something to make sure you stay quiet. Remember, this is something that stays between us."
Chloe had confided in Nate about her powers last year when they first came to be. She was expecting them, but with her father being out of town most of the time, and her mother being dead, there weren't many people that she could ask for guidance or for help. Its not like Nate new anything about being a necromancer, but it did help that her best friend since she was in kindergarten could just, well, be her friend and support her through the process. But, it did make Nate extremely curious about other types of supernatural people. In all honesty, Chloe really didn't know much about what was out there. Her mother hadn't had enough time to tell her everything, and her Dad was a normal human so he couldn't give much information.
The only other person in town that was supernatural was an old woman that lived alone. She was a witch. Chloe did approach her once, she could sense that something unhuman was coming from the home and it drew her to it. But, the old lady was nice. She did tell Chloe a little more about what she knew. However, even the old lady had rare encounters with others. It seemed as though they barely existed. What she had learned from the witch was: witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, and necromancers were the main kinds of supernaturals. There were also shape-shifters, but those were even rarer than necromancers.
The lady's name was Beth, and she actually ran a small shop in the downtown area of the town, which was really only a couple blocks of nice stores and restaurants, hardly a real downtown area. She sold oils and other herbs to fulfill some of the hipster moms in the area. None of the things she sold really had any power. She did, however, run into some witches and warlocks looking for supplies, and she would be happy to give it to them. Chloe didn't visit Beth very often, maybe once every few months. But, she did make sure to shop often at the store, because supernaturals have to stick together, right?
Chloe and Nate looked over themselves in the mirror. It was the middle of August, so the weather was starting to cool down. School had only been in session for a week, Nate and Chloe were both juniors. They were both excited for the new year, since they were upperclassmen, then that meant they could take on leadership roles in theater. Chloe was a writer, so she had immediately signed up to help write the school play that was held every year. Nate was an actor, so he was already practicing the roles to performances that were put on every year throughout the school year. They both wore black-of course. Chloe had red tips at the end of her strawberry blonde hair and Nate had dyed his ginger hair to black during the summer and they were doing well at keeping up on it. Chloe had a septum piercing and a large pendant that glowed green. Nate was always jealous of her piercing, his parents would have killed him if he tried to get that before he turned 18.
Chloe drove them to school and parked in the student parking lot. They liked to be pretty early so that way they can sit around and chat before anyone else got there.
Surprisingly, there were 3 other kids already at the school, waiting outside of the front office. Nate, being much more bold than Chloe, decided to approach them.
"Hey! Are you guys the new kids?" Despite the gothic look Nate put out, he was as bubbly as a cheerleader, which always threw people off.
"Yeah. My name is Simon. I'll be a junior, Tori here is my sister and she'll be a sophomore. Derek is my brother, and he'll be a junior too."
"Oh, so are you guys, like, twins?" Nate asked and Chloe whacked him on the arm. "What?"
"They are obviously not twins." Derek had tan skin and most likely stood six feet tall. He had black straight hair that hung over his face which was riddled with red pimples. He wore a baggy grey shirt and black jeans. Simon was much shorter, most likely five foot four. He had a slight slant to his eye and his hair was ashy blonde. When Chloe said they didn't look like each other, Derek grunted and Simon just chuckled.
"No, we are not twins. Derek is my adoptive brother. What's your name?" Simon asked sweetly. Both Tori and Derek looked more anti-social than the pretty blonde. Nate already knew which one he liked more.
"I'm Nate, this is my best friend Chloe." Nate pulled Chloe closer so they could all get a good look at her. Once she was closer, she stiffened. She could feel supernatural power oozing off of all of them. They must have felt it too because they all widened their eyes at the gothic girl.
"Cool, nice to meet you." Chloe ducked from Nate and began speed walking away before any of them could say anything to her.
"I'm sorry about her, she's a stray." Nate said sarcastically to the three before rushing towards Chloe's direction. Chloe ran into the girls bathroom of the west side of their school campus, farthest away from the front office and Nate followed her in. "What was all that about? You were so rude!"
"Those people have power!" Nate's mouth dropped open.
"Called it! But on a more serious note, did you get, like, gay vibes from Simon? Because I am already interested."
"Nate! Geez, can you calm your dick down for a moment so we can assess the situation."
"What do we need to assess? Beth seemed alright, why should we worry about these guys."
"Because we don't know what they are! What if they are, like, crazy bloodthirsty werewolves. Or what if that Tori girl is a witch and puts a curse on us or something. Don't you think its weird they are transferring into the school after its already started?"
Nate rolled his eyes at Chloe and gripped her shoulders. "Girl, chill the fuck out. You have no idea of their situation. You should not be assuming so much. Besides, maybe their parent got a new job out here or something. Stop freaking out so much."
Chloe took some deep breaths and then put some chapstick on because the colder air was already getting to her. "You're right. Maybe they won't even want to be friends with us or something. We can just… avoid them."
"Hell, nah. I am going to find out as much as I can about Simon." It was Chloe's turn to roll her eyes. She couldn't be too mad at him, though. There weren't many options for him at the school. There were only a handful of queer people at their school. Most of them have either already dated or have some weird drama that's keeping them from dating each other.
They walked out of the girls restroom. "You know, someone could've gotten you in trouble for following me into the girls restroom." Nate stuck out his tongue. "I'm just saying!" But they laughed together as they headed towards their lockers.
Sadly, their lockers were not very close to each other. They stopped at Nate's first. He grabbed his textbook for his first class and some notebooks and put them into his bag. He closed the door and suddenly Simon was on the other side.
"Ah!" Nate yelled, clutching his black shirt over his heart. "What the fuck!"
"Oh, sorry for scaring you. This is my locker." Simon pointed towards the locker that was only three lockers away from Nates.
"Oh, okay." Other students began to fill in the halls as it was getting closer to when the first period would be starting. "What's your first class?"
"I have English. What about you guys?"
"I have English, too. Who's your teacher?"
"Ms. Henderson." Simon said reading off of his newly printed schedule.
"That's my class!" Nate exclaimed, giving Chloe a pointed look. Those eyes were telling her that this coincidence was simply fate bringing them together. "Do you want to walk with us? We are going to stop by Chloe's locker and then head to my class."
"Sure, that would be really nice of you. I got this map of the school, but honestly it is so confusing."
They began walking towards the opposite side of the campus to Chloe's locker while chatting it up the entire way. "So, where did you move from?"
"Oh, we've moved around a lot. My dad works in marketing. He just got a job with a non-profit that works in this county to help get low-income kids into housing." Nate gave Chloe another look. See I told you, he said with his eyes. Chloe just huffed in return. "Have you both lived her for a long time?"
"Yeah! My Dad is a real estate agent and my mom is an interior designer. They moved out here right after they got married. Chloe's been here since she was pretty young."
Simon looked over at the girl curiously. He realized pretty quickly that she wasn't as social as her counterpart, but it seemed they were very close as both times they've run into each other, Nate and Chloe were together. He knew that the girl was supernatural, but didn't want to say anything in front of the normie. Normie is what his siblings and him called regular humans instead of supernaturals. She looked over at him but quickly looked away, noticing that his eyes were on her, even as Nate continued to talk.
Simon didn't think there would be other supernatural being in the town. His father had told him not to worry, that he had scoped the town out with a spell and couldn't find any strong supernatural senses. Chloe must have had some kind of cloaking spell. Maybe she was a witch, like his sister Tori. He glanced at her gothic look and just felt more confused. Sometimes he could sense what kind of supernatural being that he was with, but Chloe was more of an enigma. He just couldn't get the right feeling. Or maybe she was something he'd never encountered before.
They made it to Chloe's locker and she grabbed her things before they walked to Nate's class. After they departed, Chloe let out a tense breath. She didn't really know what to do around Simon, let alone his siblings that seemed much less friendly.
It was as if her thoughts brought him forth. Derek was already sitting in the desk behind where she was assigned. They apparently were going to have AP English together. Chloe wasn't the best at most scholarly things. Math was her least favorite subject. But, writing and reading was something she had always been passionate about and it showed in her English scores. This was really the only advanced class she took, besides her advanced playwriting course, which she felt didn't really count.
Others were in the class sitting already. Most people had their friends in the class, or someone to talk to. There wasn't really anyone Chloe got along well with in that class. Despite being with most of these kids for her entire life, she wasn't entirely closs with them.
It really felt like a Twilight moment, because Chloe swore she saw Derek take a big sniff and then looked up to meet her eyes. Chloe hadn't seen them before, but despite his acne ridden face, he was quite beautiful. He had a strong jawline and earthy green eyes. Something she didn't see very often. He black hair hung in front of his face and it looked a bit oily. Most likely puberty wasn't treating him kindly during his teen years. But Chloe felt as though once this wave passed, he'd be pulling in any girl he wanted. Or guy, whichever he preferred.
Chloe sat down in front of him and suddenly felt the brave urge to turn around and face him. "Hey, I'm Chloe."
"Yeah, I know." Oh. Nate had introduced her before, she just hadn't said anything. Chloe couldn't help her curiosity so she tilted her head and gave a look.
"So, you're adopted. Does that mean you're… different from Simon and Tori?" Derek's eyes widened. He slowly opened his mouth to attempt a response, but the bell rang, cutting him off before he could start and the teacher called for class to begin.
"We have a new student today. Derek, why don't you stand up and introduce yourself." Derek scowled. He always hated this part. He never really liked standing in front of the class because of how tall he was.
"My name is Derek, I recently moved here with my Dad and two of my siblings. I like to play basketball and I'm good at school." With that brief intro Derek sat back down. The teacher didn't mind, was glad that his intro didn't take forever like some new students liked to do and he was able to start teaching the lesson plan sooner.
Derek couldn't help but stare hard at the back of Chloe's head. She had pretty openly asked him about being supernatural. She wanted to know if they were all the same. Well, he wanted to know what she was exactly. Through his journey with his adoptive family he had only met witches and warlocks. Her scent was a mixture of the berry body wash she used and also something else. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was earthy in some way. Nothing like the other scents he's encountered thus far.
He had dreaded moving. He had made a good group of friends at their previous school. They had known him before puberty smacked him in the face, and were less judgy of his brooding nature. Having to deal with a new environment in a community where there was supposed to be no other supernatural made him on-edge. Plus, he could tell that his first change would be happening soon. He didn't have a comfortable nest or any outdoor environment that he was familiar with yet. He then made a mental note to take time after school to wander around town on foot to find good areas for him to have alone time in nature.
The class had ended in a blink of an eye and Chloe jumped up and left the class quickly. Derek attempted to maneuver around the students to catch up to her and interrogate her. She made a quick turn down a hallway and he attempted to follow to keep his eyes on her. Derek wasn't familiar with the school campus yet, and worried about being late to his second class. He could always cough it up to being new and not knowing the area anyway.
Chloe rounded another corner and was met with a staircase that was practically empty. She moved up the stairs and Derek couldn't help but be surprised at how quickly her short legs moved her. Derek had finally caught up with her though. Before he could try to reach out to tap on her arm or turn her to him she turned around quickly. They were practically eye to eye since the stairs helped the height difference.
"So, you're a supernatural, right?" Derek hesitated but then nodded. "Are you guys… mean?" Chloe felt dumb and naive for asking. But she felt she could just get a better idea of what to expect of them from how he reacted to the question.
Derek scoffed. "I mean, my sister Tori is kind of a bitch. But we don't like, eat people."
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Well, I have to make sure! I don't exactly run into other people often, you know. So… What are you?" It felt like another dumb question. Was asking that kind of racist? Chloe shook it out of her mind. Derek looked Chloe up and down and scrunched up his face. "What?" She asked.
"I could ask you the same thing. You tell me first."
"Wow, one of those people, huh?" Derek shrugged his shoulders. "I'm… a necromancer."
Derek's eyes widened. He had never met a necromancer before, and that explained the earthy scent. No doubt the lingering of dead souls that were buried in the ground. "So, are there ghosts here?"
Chloe glanced around and nodded. "Yeah, they're pretty much everywhere. Most of them don't really do anything. I don't like talking to them at school because then they'll bother me during class. There's an old janitor though. I'll see him around and I like to casually say hello and thank you, because he thinks he's still cleaning up the school."
Derek felt perplexed. He had never met a necromancer, but his father, Kit, had mentioned them. The only thing he really knew was that they could talk to the dead when doing a summoning, and it usually took a lot of power to do so. Hearing that she just casually saw them all over the place made him worry about just how powerful she was. "So, fes up! I told you now you tell me."
"I'm… a werewolf."
It was Chloe's turn to make her eyes wide in disbelief. She thought she'd never meet a werewolf in her life. Beth had told her they only ever ran with packs and hardly ever interacted in society, choosing to stay secluded. "How'd you end up with Simon and Tori?"
"I don't need to tell you my life story."
"Okay fine, well. What about them? Are they werewolves, too?"
"No, Simon is a warlock and Tori is a witch." Derek didn't feel like going into much detail. It was common for people to discuss what they are, but going into too much depth before you knew if the new person was an enemy could get him into more trouble than it's worth. "You should probably stay away from us." Derek felt pretty stupid as soon as he said it. He didn't necessarily dislike her or anything. But, hearing how powerful she was, and her ability to somehow not be detected when Kit scanned the area made him curious, but also nervous.
Chloe straight up laughed in his face. "You're joking right? Tell that to Nate who's already trying to bang your brother. Look, I gotta head to class. If you want to do all your brooding and 'I gotta protect my family' look on your face, we can talk more later." Chloe turned around and speedily made her way to the second floor of the school for her next class.
Derek stood there shocked. No one had ever really talked to him like that before. Most other supernatural people would have feared to do anything against him when it came to their pack. Though, it didn't seem like Chloe really knew much about supernatural's in general. He couldn't help also feel intrigued. Her scent lingered where she stood and he took a big whiff before heading back down the stairs. Something about her smell made his stomach feel tight. It was uncomfortable and thrilling all at once.
For the rest of the day Derek couldn't get Chloe off of his mind. He was able to meet up with his sibling for lunch, and of course Chloe was the topic of the day.
"She's a necromancer." Derek mumbled through the burger he was chewing.
"What! I've never met a necromancer before." Simon said in shock.
"No wonder she's so gothic. She probably hangs out at cemeteries or something." Tori retorted.
"How'd you find out?" Simon asked.
"She asked about us after first period. We have AP English together."
"I share my first with her friend, Nate." Derek chuckled as he recalled Chloe mentioning Nate already having a crush on Simon. Simon had only ever dated girls in the past, but he had never said he wouldn't consider a guy. There was one guy at their old school that Derek thought Simon may have been dating, but just wasn't telling anybody. Derek didn't push it though, because he knew his brother would tell him when he wanted and was ready. He also chose not to mention Nate's crush in front of Tori, as she would tease Simon to no end about it. "He's a real chatty guy. You wouldn't think it considering how they dress. Have you guys made any other friends yet?"
Tori nodded. "Yeah, I started talking to some girls in some of my classes. We'll see how it goes."
"Don't you think it's weird that Dad didn't detect her?" Simon asked. Derek nodded.
"I don't know if she's just dumb or is really powerful. She told me that she can just see ghosts everywhere all the time." Simon coughed on his juice.
"Are you serious? Dad said the one necromancer he's met could only do that with a summoning."
Derek nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought about, too."
"Well, you guys go ahead and be weird stalker detectives, I'm being waved down by somebody so byeeeeee." Tori got up and began walking over to a group of sophomore girls that were all dressed in the latest trend and slightly heavy makeup on their face.
Derek rolled his eyes at Tori's direction and looked back at Simon inquisitively. "Do you think its safe we keep interacting with her? What if she starts causing problems?"
Simon shrugged. "I mean, it's nice to be able to be open with somebody and not hide what we are. Let's just try it out. But, we will tell Dad about her for sure." Derek nodded in agreement. In all honesty, if Simon had said that they should avoid her, he didn't think he could. Her scent still wafted around him and at one point he would even describe it as delicious. There was something about her that made him queasy and weak.
When school had finally ended Kit picked up his three children. "How was your first day of school?"
"There's a necromancer!" Simon burst out, unable to hold back the juicy news. He had been waiting all day to talk to his dad about it.
"What? No. I scanned the area before we moved here."
"No, Dad. He's right. We met her this morning and we could sense she was supernatural. She came up to me and told me she was a necromancer. I told her what we were but didn't say anything besides that."
Kit's face scrunched up in confusion. "Oh. I must have done the spell wrong. Maybe her parents have some kind of potion or seal to conceal them from those kinds of spells. I wouldn't be surprised by that. I just thought I really did it right this time." Kit sighed. "Well, does she seem nice?"
"She's a weird goth girl. I don't know if nice is on her menu." Tori said, not looking up from her phone.
"Hey, just because she's goth doesn't mean she's not nice. Nate was super nice. That's her best friend. He dresses gothic, too." Simon explained to his dad. Kit nodded and continued to listen to Simon talk about his day, Tori interjecting every now and then to make a snarky remark or comment on how her day was.
Derek remained quiet. He looked out the window, gazing at the trees and other houses in between, thinking about the blonde haired girl he met early that day. When they got home, he informed his Dad he'd like to explore the neighborhood and went outside.
Chloe didn't see the trio for the rest of the day. She had dropped Nate at home after they talked about what Chloe had learned from Derek. She reminded him not to say anything to anyone, especially not to the three new kids because she still wasn't sure about them. Nate agreed he didn't want to get mixed up in anything dangerous, but he was also dangerously excited to know more about the supernatural world. She drove home and couldn't help but think about the bright green eyes that had watched her in class and followed her in the hallway. When she got home she took a shower, got into some comfortable clothes and began to study. After about an hour of getting assignments done she decided to take a break and make herself some food. As she was making herself something to eat her phone began to ring.
"Hey Dad." She answered the phone, seeing the caller ID.
"Hey sweetheart. Just wanted to check in and see how things are going. I noticed you haven't bought anything in a while, just wanted to make sure you had enough food."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll probably go to the grocery store tomorrow. I'm making myself some chicken and salad right now. How's it going in California? Have you been able to get them to sign the contract?"
"Almost. We have to discuss the remodeling of the building, first. But I should be done here in about two more weeks and I'll be back home until Halloween."
Chloe smiled brightly. "That's awesome! I can't wait to see you. I miss you a lot."
"I miss you, too, sweetheart. Well, I have to go, my boss is taking me out to eat right now. Call me if you need anything. Bye." The line clicked and Chloe smiled down at her phone. Her dad did his best to call almost every night to check on her.
After her mom had passed away in a car accident, Chloe feared that having her father away would be too hard, or that he would forget about her. But, he's done his best to care for her and spend large amounts of time at home in between traveling for work.
Chloe ate and the sun was beginning to set so she decided to change her clothes to fit outdoor weather and take a night walk into the woods. There, she enjoyed talking with some ghosts and even seeing some animal ghosts jump through trees and bushes. She walked out from her backyard into the small patch of woods and found her spot underneath a large tree. She sat cross legged and took some deep breaths to calm her nerves. She had learned how to push the more angry or mean ghosts away, so she could enjoy being with the nice ones.
Herb was one of her favorites. He was an older black man that died from a stray bullet when someone was illegally hunting in this forest area. They had become much stricter about the area, and then more housing developed so the forest had become much smaller and had much less wildlife in it.
"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Herb yelled and appeared in front of her. "Did you bring me a TV?"
"Now, how would I turn a TV on out here? Do you have a plug in?" Herb pursed his ghostly lips.
"What do you mean there ain't no battery TV now? Pfff." Chloe laughed out and continued chatting with the older man about the different technology being made.
Farther off Derek could hear chuckling and laughing. He became concerned as he only heard one person and began to slowly creep towards where the voice was coming from. The sun had already come down and he hadn't expected anyone to be outside anymore as he was exploring the small forest area. He was within 10 feet of Chloe when he got a whiff of her scent and knew immediately who it was.
Chloe heard a crunch of feet on fallen leaves and whipped her head in that direction. Her heart raced. Hearing a crunch either meant that someone was walking up on her just talking to herself. Or, she got too distracted and accidentally raised a dead squirrel again. "Who's there?" Derek came into view with a small lantern. The moon was providing a lot of light so Chloe hadn't even bothered with any kind of light. Plus her house wasn't too far away and she made sure to keep all of her lights on so she could easily find her way back. "Derek? What are you doing? Are you stalking me?"
"No!" Derek exclaimed. "I'm just… scouting the neighborhood. I heard someone talking and just wanted to see what was going on. What… are you doing?"
"Oh-uh-well. I'm uh… so I'm chatting with this guy named Herb. he died out here a long time ago before a lot of those houses were built. He's a pretty nice old guy so I like to keep him company when I can."
Derek tilted his head and scratched at the back of his neck, wincing at how his skin was beginning to feel incredibly itchy. "Oh, okay."
"Are you okay? You look like you're burning up."
"Yeah, no. I'm fine. I just… I just run hot in general. So do you live nearby?" Chloe pointed in the direction of her house and Derek nodded. "Do you do this a lot?"
Chloe shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, yeah? I don't have much else to do." She looked closer and Derek was visibly sweating. "Are you sure you're okay? I have some of this potion that a witch named Beth gave to me. It helps cure my fevers a lot quicker than tylenol. I can give you some if you'd like." Derek shook his head, but he did feel like something was off. When he got to Chloe his blood pressure had spiked. He assumed it was just another intense reaction to her scent, but now he wasn't so sure. "Hey, well. Maybe just sit down for a moment and take a breather. I don't know where you live, but I'm sure you've walked a long way."
Derek nodded and decided to sit next to her. "Tell me about this. Do your parents know you do this?"
Chloe sighed and looked down. "My dad knows a little bit about it, but he's just a normal human. My mom was a necromancer, and she taught me some stuff, but she died when I was pretty young. All I have are some books that she left behind to help me out."
Books? Derek was definitely interested in those books. He didn't have much to go on when it came to necromancy. Seeing Chloe's downstruck face made him want to help. Which was a surprising feeling, because he rarely wanted to go out of his way to help others. He wanted to pry, ask more questions, but his skin was on fire. He started to itch at the back of his neck.
Suddenly his body convulsed. He whipped his head back and opened his mouth to yell out but nothing came out except for hot air. He could barely breath!
"Derek? Derek, are you okay?"
"You… need to go." How could he not have realized sooner? He was out here looking for a comfortable spot to change, and now it was happening. Derek hunched over the ground and then all of a sudden, it stopped. He slumped down and Chloe delicately put her hand on his arm. It was as if his skin was catching fire.
"Shit, Derek. Are you turning right now? That doesn't happen on a full moon or something?"
Derek coughed out a rough laugh. "No, it doesn't. It happens when you go through puberty if you're born one. I've been feeling it coming but didn't think it was going to happen tonight. You should go before-" another spasm ran through his body and he couldn't help the tears running down his sweaty face.
Chloe saw how much pain he was in and decided to stay. "I'm staying here. You're in a lot of pain. I won't just leave you out here."
Derek was about to protest, but his mind was fuzzy and his sight was blurry. The only thing holding him to any kind of reality was her smell. The sweat earthy smell of fresh dirt and berries. Her red tipped hair glided along his skin as she crept closer to lie there with him, rubbing his arm and back. Cooing to him like she was soothing a child.
"I wonder if this is what childbirth is like." Chloe mumbled. Derek couldn't help the hoarse laugh that escaped. "I'm just saying. This seems like a lot."
A moment of relaxation. "It's supposed to get better each time. So far this has only happened once. It didn't last very long though."
The wave of pain came much quicker. He gripped the ground, dirt getting into his nails and Chloe continued to attempt to sooth him. She watched as his muscles literally moved. They rippled and black coarse hair started shooting up from his skin. Derek moaned out from the feeling of his bones cracking and moving. He hunched over, making Chloe jump back and he threw up into the ground.
"What the heck is wrong with this kid?!" Herb yelled from beside Chloe. Chloe did her best to ignore him. "I'm getting out of here before I get eaten!" Herb disappeared into the darkness and Chloe grimaced. She couldn't think of any reason a ghost should be scared, they were already dead! But she looked down at Derek with soft eyes, hoping that the pain would stop for him soon.
The wave had ended and Chloe scooted Derek far enough from the puke that if he needed to thrash from the pain he wouldn't get too dirty. They were both covered in dirt and leaves at this point. Derek tore off his shirt, not caring that he would probably need that shirt to get home without looking like a weirdo. The cool air steamed on his hot skin. "Should I go get something-"
"No." Derek said, whimpering. "Don't go." Chloe nodded and continued to rub her hand in circles on Derek's back. Derek almost looked like the kind of wolf man you'd see in those old horror movies. His bones seemed out of place, he had patchy black hair sprouting from different part of his body and his face was slightly misshapen. Chloe did her best not to freak out at the sight. Another wave of pain and this time Derek kicked off his shorts. "I think-I-I-I." He tried to push out the words but just couldn't get his mouth to move right.
"Shh… It's okay. I'm here." Chloe focused on his back and face. She could feel the fur underneath her hand. Cracks of bone and movement of flesh hadn't made her too queasy, but she blushed and did her best not to look t0o far down Derek's now naked body. It made sense that he needed his clothes off, he already tore his shirt and probably wanted to keep his shorts intact for when he changed back.
Would it be this bad changing back? How long would it take? Chloe had so many questions but not enough time to ask him. He was about to take final form.
Derek shook his heavy head and layed on the leaves. He was a large black wolf and was exhausted from the transformation. He had heard it usually takes a few tries for the transformation to be complete, but in a way he was glad he wouldn't have to go the way and change back to human. It was the most painful experience he ever had.
After a few quiet minutes he realized that Chloe was still stroking him, putting him in a relaxed bliss. Everything was different with his wolf sense. Her smell was much clearer, and it made him hungry. Something inside of him was calling for him to be as close to her as possible. He stood up and was taller than Chloe's sitting figure. He stepped closer to her to put his head in her lap and she carefully rested her hand between his ears. "So you're just a big puppy dog, huh?" Chloe giggled. It was strange to see Derek like this. They had only met today, and by chance she was there to help him through the transformation process. But, she felt peaceful with the wolf. She wasn't scared or nervous, she felt more safe than ever. It confused her, but it wasn't like she could really question it. He huffed at her when she made the comment.
There was a noise far off in the bushes and Derek's head shot up, ear pointing. His mouth opened, tongue sticking out and she shrugged. "Go be a wolf, I guess." Derek nudged her arm with his snout and gave her a lick before darting off into the darkness to hunt for whatever helpless bunny was strolling through.
Chloe didn't have her phone, which she was regretting because now she was going to have to wait here for who knows how long while Derek was hunting small creatures. She was dying to tell Nate every juicy detail about what had happened and knew he would freak out.
She took time to think about it. Maybe not every juicy detail would be given. If she was in Derek's position, she wouldn't want someone else telling people about the puking and the pain. She decided it was best to ask Derek what he would be okay with her sharing. But that also meant admitting that Nate knew about supernaturals, and she wasn't sure if he was going to be okay with that.
She stood for a moment and looked down at herself. She was filthy. She had come out in black sweats and a baggy t-shirt she got from a concert. It was smudged with dirt and leaves were stuck to her everywhere. She looked over at the pile of puke and kicked leaves and dirt over it. The torn grey t-shirt looked irreparable and she scooped it up along with his shorts and underwear. She delicately folded the shorts, doing her best to dust the dirt off of them.
Derek reappeared suddenly and used his snout to push the inside of her knee, making her fall back and Derek made a barking sound that could be mistaken as laugh and rolled around in the dirt.
"Ha ha very funny! And here I was trying to be nice and pick up your things."
Chloe kneeled down to the black wolf and stroked his fur again. "Are you going to be like this for a while? Do you want me to leave you alone?" She didn't really know what to do. Derek did his best at shrugging in wolf form, but used his mouth to pull on her pant leg indicating she should ist. She did so and he laid his head on her lap again. "Okay okay. I won't leave you alone. Are you scared of the dark?"
As soon as she said that she could hear the murmurs. Ghosts were lingering but weren't appearing in front of her, not knowing what to think or make of the wolf that sat with her. She did her best not to focus on them, but Derek must have felt her tense up. He bobbed his head as if trying to ask her what was wrong. "There are lots of ghosts out here. They stayed away while you were transforming, but now they're whispering about. Don't worry, I've got it." He huffed and laid his head back down.
Chloe hadn't realized she drifted to sleep until a firm hand shook her slightly. "Chloe?"
Chloe jumped a little and grabbed the hand that touched her. She looked up and saw Derek with no shirt but had his shorts on. "Derek! Are you okay? Was turning back… painful?" Suddenly Chloe felt guilty she wasn't awake to help him through it. He shook his head.
"No, it wasn't as bad as it was to become a wolf. It's pretty late though, you should get back home."
"Oh. What about you? How far do you live, I can drive you." Derek contemplated it. "And I can give you one of my Dad's T-shirts."
Derek decided that was probably best and followed Chloe back to her house. They walked together silently. Chloe figured it wasn't nice to pry, even if she was dying to. Derek pulled out his phone from his short pocket and saw multiple calls from his father and his brother. He shot them both a quick text saying that he was okay and would explain what happened when he got home. "My dad's not home right now. He's in California for his job. He won't even notice and old T-shirt missing so you don't have to worry about giving it back." They had made it to the house and Derek was shocked at how large it was. It was a three story house and all of the lights were on, including the back porch. They entered and Chloe directed him to a bathroom on the first floor. "If you want you can take a quick shower. I'll grab a towel and the shirt for you."
"Thank you." Derek mumbled and went into the bathroom. He started the shower but decided to sit on the toilet for a second to collect his thoughts. The smell of the house was overwhelming him as he could feel Chloe all around him. His senses were still heightened from changing and he couldn't stop the goosebumps that covered his body. He took a few deep breaths but his mind refused to calm down. Finally he realized the feeling wouldn't go away anytime soon and looked down at his shorts and saw they were tented. He groaned in embarrassment. He took his shorts off, hissing at the feel of the cloth on him. He jumped into the steaming shower and groaned once more. There was a knock on the door that made him jump.
"Here's the shirt and towel. I'll be using a shower upstairs and I'll meet you in the living room." He grunted in response, scared that she would rip open the shower curtain and see him hard in her shower. It was crazy to think that she would do that, but he couldn't help the anxiety of being caught aroused by the intense smell of her in her home. Derek felt confused. He had never had this kind of reaction to someone else before.
When he felt like she was far enough away he finally decided to address the problem in his nether region. It was not going to go away unless he did something about it. He began stroking his dick slowly and was reminded of how soft Chloe's hand felt when she pet his fur. He moaned, hoping the shower muffled him as he began to pump harder, thinking of Chloe's soft skin and how she had rubbed his back and helped him change. Suddenly he imagined her underneath him, naked. Seeing that image run across his mind made him climax and he felt his body was so weak, it couldn't go through much more stress or tenseness. He cleaned himself up and made sure the shower was also clean before getting out and getting dressed. When he looked in the mirror, he realized he looked a lot cleaner than before. His hair didn't seem so oily and his pimples actually decreased. Turning must have flipped a switch for him. He could hear a shower somewhere else in the house still running so he casually sat on the sofa in the living rooms waiting for her.
He contemplated the night. He had only met this girl earlier in the day and was even thinking about avoiding her. Now, he was changing into a wolf in front of her and jacking off to the thought of her. The first day in a new town was eventful for him if anything.
Chloe eventually came down and had on grey pajama shorts and a t-shirt that fit her comfortably, but the sight of her made Derek salivate. He was shocked that someone could make him react this way. For some reason, the wolf inside of him wanted to grab her and hold her in his arms and make sure nothing ever hurt her. He held himself back though. "Thank you. For not leaving."
"No problem. I don't really know much but… if you ever need someone there, I'll be there." She reached out and grabbed his hand, using her thumb to rub a circle on it. "Do you think we could… hang out tomorrow? I just have a lot of questions and…" Derek nodded.
"Uh, yeah. We can meet up tomorrow for lunch or afterschool." Chloe smiled brightly, excited that she would be able to finally interrogate him. Derek couldn't help his smile in return. Chloe blushed at the way Derek was eyeing her. But, they finally walked to the garage where Chloe had her car parked and Derek directed her to where he lived. The porch light was still on. When they had checked the time they realized it was already one in the morning. No doubt Kit was waiting by the door for Derek to return.
Just as expected, Chloe parked her car on the curb and Kit was opening the door, looking out to find his son getting out of the car. He noticed the girl inside and his eyes widened. Kit had never known Derek to be interested in anyone romantically. While Simon had girlfriends here and there, Derek preferred to keep to himself. Sometimes he wondered if Derek would ever be interested in someone, but he didn't really want the first time to be him out past curfew with some girl.
"Are you okay?" Kit asked and looked Derek up and down. The girl driving the car waved to Derek and sped away. He noticed that his skin had cleared up a bit and he seemed to have just showered. "You didn't-"
"I changed." Derek murmured. Kit didn't expect that.
"Fully?" Derek nodded. "Who was that?"
"Chloe, the necromancer from school. She was in the forest when it happened." Kit nodded. "I'm okay. Nothing bad happened. She let me shower at her place afterward. I'm sorry for being late." Kit pulled Derek into a strong hug.
"I'm just glad you are okay. Get some rest, we can talk more in the morning." Derek nodded.
He plopped down on his bed, Simon was still fast asleep in the bed on the other side of the room.
As Derek drifted off into slumber he couldn't help but think of the gothic girl he was falling for.