cgi/set?id=98007469

Magic Bullet:

I was walking the main hallway at school with Lydia on my left and Allison on her other side. The students that lingered in the hallway between classes parted like that Red Sea as she strolled down the hall not even noticing the awed or envious looks that she got from the other students. I smirked to myself as I walked with her and Allie in my black and white Love Vest, MANGO Black super-slim jeans and my nails painted Electric dark pink to match the Christian Louboutin Daffodile pumps that were a present from Lydia on my last birthday and the Juicy Couture Handbag, Nylon Daydreamer Bag slung over my arm. I was still a little wary of Allison due to the fact that she was Argent but I didn't think that she was even aware of her family's supernatural dealings so I decided to continue myself friendship with her for now. We turned into a vacated stairwell just as Allison informed Lydia and I that Scott was going over to her house that afternoon.

"Scott's coming over? Tonight?" Lydia repeated after her with a smirk on her lips as we came to a complete stop on one of the landings.

"We're just studying together." Allison told us both with an innocent shrug of her shoulders as she adjusted the strap of her bag.

"'Just studying' never ends with just studying. It's like - Getting into a hot tub - Somebody eventually cops a feel." I informed her with a coy smirk playing on my lips as she looked at me with wide brown eyes.

"Well, so what are you saying?"

"We're just saying, you know, make sure he covers up." Lydia said to her with a mischievous smirk of her own but her wording made me grimace because it was my twin brother we were talking about. "Hello, snow white! Do it with him with a condom." My strawberry blonde friend continued when Allison's face morphed into confusion.

"Are you kidding? After one date?" Allison asked in an incredulous hushed whisper even though no one was around.

"Don't be a total prude. Give him a little taste."

"Well, I - I mean, how much is 'a little taste'?" Allie asked is innocently and I gasped in realisation as I covered my mouth with one hand.

"Oh, God. You really like him, don't you?" I asked her with a bright smile as she blushed bright red under my and Lydia's gaze.

"Well - He's just different. When I first moved here, I had a plan - no boyfriends till college. I just move too much. But - Then I met him, and - He was different. I - I don't know. I can't explain it."

"I can. It's your brain flooding with phenylethylamine." Lydia informed her with a shrug of her shoulders and gave me a knowing look that I simply rolled my eyes at. Back a few years ago, Lydia and I had nearly the exact same conversation that we were having with Allison.

"What?" Allison asked with a light chuckle as she looked between the two of us.

"Okay, I'm going forget for a moment that we are in fact talking about my twin brother and I'll tell you what to do. When's he coming over?" I asked her a I fought a shudder that threatened to run down my spine.

"Right after school." She answered me as I leaned back on the wall of the stairwell and Lydia pursed her pretty painted lips in concentration.

"Hmm. Well, you're a cherry, so we don't want to make it too heated the first time. And I'm guessing that Scott is one too?" Lydia asked me instead of Allison and I nodded my head in confirmation so she turned back to face the taller brunette that was blushing and looking confused.

"Cherry?" she asked in confusion as she looked between Lydia and I for an explanation.

"It means you're a virgin." I explained to her bluntly and her head shot up to look at me with wide unblinking dark brown eyes.

"How do you know I'm a virgin?" Allison asked us defensively as she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and Lydia and I both burst out laughing a little.

"You just have a virginal vibe surrounding you. It's nothing to be ashamed about, Allie." I told her softly and her hard gaze softened a little as I smiled at her warmly.

"Well, what about the two of you? Have you ever had sex?" she asked Lydia and I innocently as she bit her lower lip. Lydia and I shared a look before we both nodded in unison.

"Yep." I answered her matter-of-factly as I looked at my nails. "I lost my virginity when I was 15 to Jackson."

"Lydia's boyfriend Jackson? That Jackson?" Allison exclaimed in shock as she looked between me and my best friend again.

"That's the one." Lydia answered her with a smirk before she smiled over her shoulder at me. When Jackson and I had slept to together for the first time, Lydia was the first person I told so it wasn't exactly new information for her. Jack and I had never dated before but when we started high school we both wanted to get it out of the way and we trusted and loved each other. Lydia flipped her long strawberry blonde over her shoulder and turned back to face Allison. "I lost my virginity to Jackson a week after we started dating."

"Anyway, back to you and I'm-not-gonna-say-his-name-because-it-creeps-me-ou t." I said to Allison and she chuckled at my new nickname for Scott before nodding her head at me to continue. "First of all, you should never do anything more than you're comfortable with. Secondly, I would suggested nothing more than kissing with both shirts off, over the bra action." I said to her as I considered the facts I had about both Scott and Allison before looking over at Lydia for confirmation.

"Sophie's right. That's just enough that he will be crawling on all fours to get back to you." Lydia agreed with me as she smirked at Allison who was smiling slightly with red cheeks. I giggled at her before Lydia grabbed before of our arms and pulled us up the stairs with her.

I walked out of the front doors of the school with a smile on my face but it soon turned to a frown of confusion when I saw a line of cars waiting for the traffic to move in the car park. I spied a familiar silver Porsche in the middle of the row of cars and strolled over to it as I looked around for the cause of the traffic jam. I leaned in the driver's side window to smile at Jackson and Lydia who was in the passenger seat.

"Hey, guys." I greeted them brightly as I gave them both a warm smile.

"Allison going to sleep with your brother…" Lydia taunted me jokingly in a sing-song voice as she flashed me an innocent smile. Jackson gave her a confused look but Lydia and I ignored him as I gasped playfully and shook my head at her.

"Oh, Lydia. It's as if you don't think I'll tell everyone what happened at the lake last summer." I threatened her playfully and she just laughed out loud at me.

"If I recall correctly…" she started to say to me with an evil smile.

"Which you do because you have an eidetic memory." I interrupted her with a smile and an eye roll.

"I wasn't the only one doing something at the lake last summer…" Lydia finished and I shuddered at the memory of last summer.

"Fine, you win." I allowed her as I leaned out the window and looked to where the traffic jam started. I frowned when I saw a familiar light blue jeep at the front of the line of traffic and gripped the strap of my bag tighter.

"Hey, Soph, did you want a ride?" Jackson asked me with a smirk but I just shook my head at him and took off running towards the front of the traffic where Stiles jeep was. I felt my eyes widen when I got there and saw Derek lying sprawled out on the asphalt looking paler than normal and sweat glistening on his forehead. Stiles and Scott were both crouching over him so I hurried over to join them knowing that Derek only tolerated the two of them because of the situation.

"I was shot." I heard Derek tell them in a weak voice as I crouched down next to them and Stiles and Scott shot me incredulous looks while Derek looked slightly relieved at my appearance.

"What is she doing here?" I vaguely heard Stiles whisper to Scott and I glanced at my twin brother with my eyebrows raised because I figured that he had told Stiles about me knowing about werewolves. Scott and I still hadn't had a proper chance to talk about how I knew about them exactly but I was dreading the time that it came.

"She knows about us." Derek informed him quietly in a strained voice and Stiles' eyes widened almost comically as he looked at me. He ran his hand over his buzz cut and opened his mouth to say something a few times but each time he abruptly snapped it shut again. Derek groaned in pain and I quickly turned my attention back to the injured werewolf.

"He's not looking so good, dude." Stiles said to Scott in a disgusted voice while I looked around to see some people hopping out of their cars to see what was going on.

"Why aren't you healing?" Scott asked him in expiration as if Derek was doing it on purpose.

"I can't. It was - it was a different kind of bullet." Derek explained to him and I frowned in sympathy when he grimaced in pain again.

"A silver bullet?" Stiles asked him and I could hear the slight excitement in his tone when he thought that one of the werewolf myths was true.

"No, you idiot." I told him simply as I rolled my eyes at him.

"You don't know that!"

"No, you idiot." Derek repeated my words to him and I shot Stiles a smug smile over my shoulder as he stuck his tongue at me.

"Wait, wait. That's what she meant when she said you had 48 hours." Scott said to himself softly but we all turned to face him as we heard him.

"What? Who - who said 48 hours?"

"The one who shot you." He replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe and I bit back a scathing retort because we had bigger things to deal with at the moment. Derek's normally green eyes suddenly shifted to an electric icy blue colour and I gasped in surprise. "What are you doing? Stop that!"

"I'm trying to tell you, I can't!" Derek growled at him impatiently as he eyes continued to shift back and forth uncontrollably and he grimaced in pain.

"Okay, this is ridiculous." I muttered to myself as I placed my arm through Derek's and started to help him stand up. "Derek, get up. Scott, help me put him in the car." I instructed them and Scott helped me lift Derek so that he was standing shakily on his feet. Scott put an arm around the older werewolf as I raced in front of them and opened up the passenger side door to Stiles jeep. Scott helped Derek into the car before I climbed into the backseat and he closed the door behind me.

"I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used." Derek told Scott as Stiles climbed into the driver's seat of the car. Scott leaned back through the window to frown at the injured man in the front seat.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Scott asked him in frustration as he ran a hand through his messy brown hair. I smiled at him in sympathy but leaned through the middle of the seats to look him dead in the eye.

"'Cause she's Argent. She's with them." I reminded him softly as he shook his head at the two of us in denial.

"Why should I help you?" he asked Derek harshly as he glared at the older wolf and I bit back an aggravated sigh. I knew why Scott was being wary of placing so much trust in a complete stranger but it was getting frustrating because I already trusted Derek. Scott didn't have the information or the connection to Derek that I had so I kept reminding myself of that fact whenever he started to annoy me with his whole anti-Derek agenda.

"Because you need me." Derek answered him simply and truthfully as I nodded in agreement from behind him.

"Fine. I'll try." My brother conceded as he sighed and then hit the side of the door before turning to his best friend. "Hey, get him out of here."

"I hate you for this so much." Stiles told him as he turned on the jeep and drove out the of the school parking lot without another word.

I sat in the backseat of the jeep biting my perfectly manicure fingernails nervously as Stiles drove aimlessly through the streets and Derek kept getting paler by the second. I saw Stiles check his phone for a message from Scott and then sigh when no reply came through.

"Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, okay?" he scolded Derek as the injured werewolf attempted to take off his leather jacket by himself. I leaned forward in my seat with a sigh and grabbed the back of the jacket so that I could help him slide it down his arms. He glanced at me over his shoulder and nodded in thanks as the jacket slipped for. I smiled back at him slightly as I moved the jacket into the backseat with me so that it didn't get in the way. "We're almost there."

"Almost where?" Derek asked him breathlessly as he leaned his head back against the headrest and I peered at him in concern.

"Your house." Stiles answered his question as if it was obviously and I quickly snapped my head around to look at him like he was crazy.

"What? No, you can't take me there." Derek said to him at the same time that I exclaimed, "Are you crazy?"

"Why am I crazy? I can't take you to your own house?" Stiles asked us both in frustrated confusion as he looked between the two of us.

"Not when I can't protect myself." Derek told him while just shook my head in answer to his question. Stiles licked his lips as he shook his head in annoyance before pulling the jeep over onto the side of the road.

"All right. What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Hmm? Are you dying?" he demanded an answer from Derek as he turned in the seat to face him. I frowned in concern as I turned and looked at Derek while we waited for an answer to the question.

"Not yet. I have a last resort."

"What do you mean? What last resort?" Stiles yelled at him as he waved his hands in the air, a fair sure way to know that he was mad. Derek rolled up the sleeve of his grey shirt to reveal a severe wound that oozed blood and was covered in already dried blood. I gaped at the wound as I leaned closer in fascination. "Oh, my God. What is that? Oh, is that contagious? You know what, you should probably just get out."

"Start the car. Now." Derek bit out through clenched shut teeth as I continued to examine the bullet wound curiously.

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, okay? In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead." Stiles told the injured werewolf and my gaze shot up to meet Derek's for a second before we both looked at Stiles. I gave him an unbelieving look while Derek glared at him threateningly in a way that made me glad that wasn't on the receiving end of it.

"Start the car, or I'm gonna rip your throat out - With my teeth." He warned the skinny human in the driver's seat and I had no doubts in my mind that he could do it with he really wanted to. Stiles continued to stare at the werewolf for a few seconds before he turned back to the steering wheel and started the car while shoots Derek wary glances from the corner of his eye. We drove around town for a while in silence except for a few crude remarks and complaints from Stiles before he decided to pull back over and call Scott.

"Where the hell are you? And, by the way, he's starting to smell." Stiles said into the phone and I shot him a confused look as I leaned my chin on my hand and watched him on the phone. "Like death. And what am I meant to do with him?"

"Actually, I have an idea about that." I interrupted the phone call from my spot in the backseat and Derek and Stiles both turned to look at me in question. I smiled slightly at Derek before continuing with my train of thought. "Don't take this the wrong way, but we should go to the animal clinic."

"What about your boss?" Stiles asked me incredulously and I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"He's gone by now and I have a key." I informed them with a smirk as I pulled the key out of my bra where I always kept it. Their eyes both widened when I reached down my shirt to grab it and I smiled slightly at the simplistic male mind.

"You're not gonna believe where she's telling me to take him." Stiles said into the phone to Scott as he shook his head at my actions. He nodded once at whatever Scott was saying before handing the phone over to Derek.

"Did you find it? Look, if you don't find it, then I'm dead, all right? Then think about this. The Alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time you either kill with him or you get killed. So if you wanna stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet." Derek said into the phone to my brother before handing it back over to Stiles roughly. I leant back in my seat as Stiles started the car again and pulled onto the road. The drive down the familiar road to the veterinarian clinic was silent except for Derek's now laboured breathing so I sighed in relief when we pulled up out the front of the clinic. Stiles scrambled out of the car and I quickly followed him out and we both rushed around to the passenger side of the jeep to help Derek out. Balancing him between us, Stiles and I dragged him over the door of the supply closer and then I get on long enough to slip the key in the lock and open the door. Stiles rolled up the door so that I could help Derek inside the room where he slouched against a shipment of dog food. Stiles phone beeped and he checked it while I glanced nervously at the sweating werewolf who was getting paler and weaker by the second.

"Does Northern blue monkshood mean anything to either of you?" Stiles asked us as he turned around to face us from his phone. Our faces most have expressed our realisation because he looked between us before continuing, "Or both of you?"

"It's a rare form of wolfsbane." I explained to him in defeat as I ran a hand through my long curly hair. I had read all about different types of wolfsbane in my studies with Dr Deaton and knew that if that's what had infected Derek we were in trouble.

"He has to bring me the bullet." Derek informed Stiles slowly as he leaned on the wall for support and I nodded as I bit my nails again.

"Why?" Stiles asked us both in innocent curiosity.

"'Cause I'm gonna die without it." He said calmly to the younger boy and Stiles' mouth dropped open. I sighed at them before moved over to where Derek was slumped on the dog food.

"Come on, up you get." I muttered softly as I helped him standing up from the bags and then gestured for Stiles to help me because Derek was all muscle and heavy. Stiles rushed over to us and put his arm around Derek to help support him so I nodded once before going in front of them to open the door that led to the examination room of the clinic. They both followed as I flipped on the light and it illuminated the room to reveal a single stainless stain operating table and medical equipment. Derek started stripping off his shirt so that we could properly see the infected bullet wound but I couldn't help but silently appreciate the gorgeous view I had of his chiselled abdomen. He turned around, oblivious to my lustful staring, and I caught sight of the large triskelion tattooed in between his shoulder blade and I raised an eyebrow at it. Stiles nudged me sharply in the side and I turned to glare at him heated before crossing my arms over my chest defensibly and went back to watching Derek only this time I actually paid attention to what he was doing. He had moved over to the operating table and I looked closely at the wound that now had more liquid oozing from it and the veins surrounding it were black.

"Okay. You know, that really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night of sleep couldn't take care of." Stiles said brightly as he also looked at the mess on Derek's arm and I gave him a sharp look at hi idiocy.

"When the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me." Derek corrected him through heavy breaths before he started to look through all the drawers in the room. I watched him curiously as my brow scrunched together in confusion and leaned my elbows on the table like I had done so many times during my lessons.

"'Positivity' just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?"

"If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time - Last resort." Derek said as he continued searching through the cabinet.

"Which is?"

"You're gonna cut off my arm." He told us simply as he turned around to face us holding a hand saw in his hand. I was sure my face was contorted in the same horrified expression that was on Stiles as I took a step back for the man with the saw. Derek came back over to the table and slid the electric hand saw over to Stiles, who picked it up from the table and pressed the on button.

"Oh, my God." He swore in horror as he clicked it off again "What if you bleed to death?"

"It'll heal if it works." Derek explained as he started to tie an elastic band around his thick bicep to stop the infection spreading. I walked around the table and took the band from his hands when I saw that he was having trouble tying it with only one hand.

"Ugh. Look - I don't know if I can do this."

"Why not?" he asked Stiles as I tied the band around the top of his arm for him.

"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!" Stiles exclaimed in frustration as he flung his arms wildly.

"You faint at the sight of blood?" I asked him in amusement as I leant on the side of the operation table.

"No, but I might at the sight of a chopped - off arm!"

"All right, fine. How about this? Either you cut off my arm, or I'm gonna cut off your head." Derek threatened him in a strained voice.

"Okay, you know what, I'm so not buying your threats any –" Stiles started to say but was cut off when Derek grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down onto the table. "Oh, my God. Okay. All right, bought, sold. Totally. I'll do it. I'll do it." He whimpered as Derek let him go before he grimaced in pain and leant over the edge of the table. I stepped backwards as he started vomiting up a blood liquid because I didn't want to get any on my shoes. "What? What are you doing? Holy God, what the hell is that?"

"It's his body trying to heal itself." I explained to the bewildered Stiles as I rubbed Derek's back comfortingly even though I knew it would help him.

"Well, it's not doing a very good job of it." Stiles exclaimed as he grimaced at the mess on the floor.

"Now. You gotta do it now." Derek told him with a pained frown on his face as he tried to stand back up straight.

"Look, honestly, I don't think I can."

"Just do it!" the irritable werewolf snapped at him as he had to lean on the table in pain. I grabbed the hand saw from Stiles because hands were shaking and I didn't really want him operating on Derek in that condition.

"I can do it." I stated matter-of-factly as they both looked up at me in disbelief.

"You?" Stiles asked incredulously with a laugh as he shook his head at me so I raised an eyebrow at him and held the saw in one hand as I turned it on. Stiles paled at the sight of me with a power tool and I rolled my eyes at him as I turned it off again.

"I'm training to be a veterinarian." I informed Derek simply and he looked at me for a second longer before he nodded his ascent. I placed the saw on his arm just under the rubber band and took a deep breath because I was nervous about cutting off someone's arm.

"Oh, my God. Okay, okay. Oh, my God. All right, here we go!" I vaguely heard Stiles utter under his breath and I was just about to turn on the saw when I heard someone enter the room.

"Sophie! Stiles!" I heard Scott call out to us from behind me.

"What the hell are you doing?" Scott asked me as he saw what I was doing with a saw and I dropped the saw onto the table with a sigh of relief.

"Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares." Stiles exclaimed happily as I took a few deep breaths to regain my composure.

"Did you get it?" Derek asked my brother and Scott silently put his hand in his jeans pocket and pulled out a gold encased bullet.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Stiles asked as Scott handed the bullet to Derek. I stepped out of the way as he examined the bullet tentatively.

"I'm gonna - I'm gonna –"He said weakly before his eyes fluttered shut and he collapsed onto the floor. The bullet started rolling in one direction but my attention was on the werewolf that was current lying unconscious on the floor.

"Derek. Derek, come on, wake up. Scott, what the hell are we gonna do?" Stiles asked loudly as he and I ran over to Derek's side and Scott chased after the bullet. I pressed my fingers to the side of Derek's throat to check for a pulse as I blocked out the sound of Stiles and my brother's voice so I could concentrate. I closed my eyes and counted under my breath the number of beats I could feel of his heart.

"I think he's dying. I think he's dead!" I heard Stiles exclaim next to me and I rolled my eyes at his melodramatics.

"He's not dead." I told him calmly as I moved so that I was straddling the unconscious werewolf and Stiles looked at me like I was crazy.

"Just hold on! Come on. Oh! I got it! I got it!" I heard Scott say somewhere over my shoulder but I barely heard him.

"Please don't kill me for this." I muttered to Derek's unconscious form before I pulled my arm back and punch him with all my strength. I heard Stiles and Scott both gasp in shock but my focus was on the werewolf that had just opened his eyes. I sighed in relief as I climbed off his lap and he followed me. We walked back over to the table with the boys and watched as Scott pulled out the magic bullet.

"Give me –"Derek ordered as he reached for the bullet in Scott's hand and my brother hurriedly handed it over to him. Derek quickly bit the top off of the bullet using his teeth and tapped it repeatedly on the operating table to empty the wolfsbane out of the capsule. I watched in fascination as he pulled out a black lighter and lit the plant on fire. The flame immediately caught and grew higher than what I expected. The smoke burned a mystical blue colour as Derek captured the remains in his hands and pressed it into the bullet wound. I gaped and covered my open mouth with a hand as Derek groaned in pain and fell to the floor as his knees buckled underneath him. He landed on the floor and all we the three of us could do was watch as he withered in pain as the wound healed itself. Derek screamed in pain as the black veins around the wound turned back to normal and the bullet wound itself healed.

"That - Was - Awesome! Yes!" Stiles exclaimed in wonder and Scott and I looked at him like he had lost his mind. I scowled at him and walked over to where Derek was trying to stand up himself. I grabbed his bicep and helped him stand on his own as I frowned at him in concern.

"Are you okay?" my brother asked the question that I hadn't voice out loud.

"Well, except for the agonizing pain." Derek replied sarcastically and I smiled at him because he was getting back to normal.

"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health." I teased him lightly and he rolled eyes at me in amusement as I chuckled.

"Okay, we saved your life, which means you're gonna leave us alone, you got that? All of us." He added as he glanced at me and I frowned at him in defiance because he couldn't tell me who he be around. "And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad, and I'm gonna tell him everything – "

"You're gonna trust them? You think they can help you?" Derek interrupted him to ask and I silently agreed with the older werewolf.

"Well, why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are."

"I can show you exactly how nice they are." He said to my brother and I sighed because I knew where this is going.

"What do you mean?"

As Derek's Camaro pulled to a stop outside of the Beacons Crossing Home Long Term Care Facility, I looked out at the familiar building and sighed in sadness for the man that lived here. When I gave Derek the photographs he knew that I knew Peter but I had kept it to myself that I came to visit him every Monday night. The secret was just something that made it more special to me so I kept it out of the conversation.

"What are we doing here?" Scott asked from the backseat but neither Derek nor I said anything as we climbed out of the car. We all walked into the facility to see that no nurse was guarding the reception area so we walked straight through the glass double doors and headed for rom number twelve where Peter lived. Derek opened the door to the dark room and Scott and I followed him in silently. I sat down on the freshly made bed like I had done so many times before while Derek and Scott went to stand next to Peter's wheelchair. I smiled sadly at Peter's back because that's all I could see from the bed before glancing up at the sad expression on Derek's face. My smile slipped away and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the emotions that were hiding just under the surface of Derek Hale.

"Who is he?" Scott asked him softly as he gazed at Peter in his manual wheelchair.

"My uncle. Peter Hale." Derek answered him in an emotionless voice and I knew that it was so that he didn't look soft in front of the young werewolf he was trying to gain respect and trust from.

"Is he - like you, a werewolf?"

"He was. Now he's barely even human. Six years ago, my sister and I were at school, and our house caught fire. 11 people were trapped inside. He was the only survivor." Derek recounted the story to Scott and I felt a tear run down my cheek as I remember who I had lost in the fire. Derek quickly looked at me when he finished and I wiped away the tear with the back of my hand before looking away from his knowing gaze.

"So - What makes you so sure that they set the fire?"

" 'Cause they're the only ones that knew about us."

"Well, then - They had a reason." Scott tried to defend the Argents but I just shook my head and scoffed softly which drew the attention of both the werewolves. I glared at Scott for a second and he looked away from my heated gaze.

"Like what?" Derek asked harshly before he turned the wheelchair to the side so that Scott could see the burns that spread across Peter's face. "You tell me what justifies this. They say they'll only kill an adult, and only with absolute proof, but there were people in my family that were perfectly ordinary in that fire. This is what they do. And it's what Allison will do."

"What are you doing? How did you get in here?" a familiar voice said from the doorway and I turned around to see Jennifer standing in the doorway.

"We were just leaving." Derek mumbled as he started towards the door but Jennifer's gaze swept the room and landed on me. She gave me a bright smile and I returned it warmly as I stood up from the bed gracefully.

"Sophie! How are you, sweetie?" The nurse asked me and Derek stopped walking towards the door so that he could turn to me in confusion.

"Hey, Jennifer! I'm good. I'm sorry, I know that it's late. I thought that I left my book in here on morning and I was going to get it. No one was at the front desk though so I snuck in." I lied sheepishly and she chuckled at me lightly as both boys watched the exchange.

"Oh no, it's fine. You know, everyone here knows you anyway. I'm sure you're Peter's favourite visitor and who are we to take that away from him?" Jennifer joked and I chuckled at her as I moved towards the door with Derek and Scott. Jennifer opened the door for us to go through but at the last minute, I ran back into the room and planted a kiss on Peter's good cheek like I did at the end of every one of my visits. I met the others at the door and we all walked down the corridor in silence as I prayed in vain that neither Derek nor Scott would question my actions. Once we were outside and on the way to the Camaro both the guys exploded at the same time.

"How do you know Peter?" Scott asked loudly as he paused in front of me.

"You still visit him?" Derek questioned me from the other side of me. I sighed in defeat and turned to Derek first still the explanation to him would be shorter than the one to Scott.

"I visit Peter once a week and I have since the fire. He's the only connection I have to her now." I explained sadly and he looked away from me into the forest surrounding the facility. I turned to Scott who was standing impatiently waiting for me to get to him. "What do you want to know, Scott?"

"I want to know how you know the Hales." He stated to me and I sighed again as I rubbed my forehead.

"I was friends with Derek's sister." I said simply as is shrugged my shoulders at him and his face morphed to confusion.

"Laura?"

"No, his younger sister. Cora. She died in the fire." I stated in an emotionless voice before glancing over at Derek at the same time he was looking at me. His greenish grey eyes met mine and all I could see in them was sadness, longing and understanding.