A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed reading this version's first part of The Darkest Powers trilogy! Part two will be coming soon, so please don't hurt me!
Thank you everyone for reading, commenting, and/or favoriting/ following. I couldn't have done it without you! Please, if you have any sort of suggestions or edits, or just normal comments, don't be afraid to post them! I love reading them!
Disclaimer: The characters belong to a kind Ms. Kelley Armstrong.
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I jumped to the sound of my alarm, narrowly escaping the the prison of my old car seat and the sound of my mother screaming and gasping. I quickly reached for my phone and shut it off, quickly wiping off my tears and looking to see Liz still snoring away. I sighed quietly as I got up, straightening my clothes.
Before we had gone to bed, Liz and I made sure to be already dressed and ready before we left, making sure that we could leave quickly without risking extra noise. Jeans had been a given, but I informed Liz to wear multiple layers of socks, as well as layer tops. In total, we both had managed two sport-bras, a tank top, t-shirt, and then a hoodie. We both also donned on hats and gloves, just to be safe. It was starting to get colder out, especially at night.
I pulled on my shoes quietly and reached over to Liz, gently shaking her awake. After a few seconds, her eyes blearily opened and looked at me confused. I motioned for her to get up and grab her bag, and her eyes cleared up. She gave me a smile before quietly went to work.
We made our way quietly downstairs and to the back door to meet up with Simon, and as soon as we saw him, I felt my heart drop. Something was wrong. He looked scared. I hurried over to him.
"What? What's wrong?" I whispered, anxious. My heart was going a mile a minute, and I could feel my palms start to sweat through my bindings and my gloves.
Simon leaned closer to say, "It's Derek. He wasn't in bed when I got up. I checked the bathroom, but he's not there either."
Liz came over. "Is it possible he changed his mind and left early? To check the place out?" Simon shook his head.
"I don't know… he seemed pretty adamant about staying here. He usually doesn't change his mind so easily…"
I gave a small sigh as I took off my bag and handed it to Liz. "You two go ahead. I'll go and look for him, then catch up."
Simon shook his head. "You shouldn't have to do that. I can go -" I cut him off.
"No. You know your dad, you know where he might've gone. We can't have you lagging behind. I'll go find him. You and Liz just go while you can. I'll catch up."
Simon and Liz looked like they really didn't want to go, but I persisted and pushed us to the door. Simon just gave a long sigh as he punched in the code, letting us all out without any trouble. Once we all stood outside the door, Liz and Simon gave me a quick hug before heading around the house and toward the direction of the old factory. As soon as they were outside of my sight, I began the search for Derek.
Simon had said that he wasn't around inside the house, so the only possible chances were around the house or already out ahead of us. I decided to walk out in front of me for a bit. There were a couple patches of bushes that seemed pretty thick around the outsides of the fence, but everywhere else was pretty clear. Luckily there was enough moonlight to let me make out where I was headed. The closest neighborhood with streetlights were to far in front of the house to provide any help.
It was as I was jumping the fence when I heard it. I quickly snapped my head toward the sound and tried to pinpoint where it came from. It was just ahead of me, a bit to the left. I quickly made jumped over, heading cautiously toward the bundle of bushes. For all I knew, it could've been some kind of wounded animal.
It wasn't until I heard a cut off cry that I rushed toward the bushes. It was likely that Derek had underestimated just how sick he was and didn't want Simon to see.
I rounded the corner and froze.
Kneeling on the ground was Derek, but it took me a minute to actually recognize him. His back was turned toward me as he heaved into parts of the bush. The bones in his back seemed to be almost shifting, making his body look contorted. His muscles jumped through his skin as his skin was tearing in different places, but blood wasn't oozing from the wound. It was something dark, black even. It rustled as the wind blew past it…
It was fur. Derek's skin was ripping for fur.
All of a sudden, Simon's voice echoed through my head.
"Oooo, looks like someone's in the dog house!"
"Good Derek."
Derek's face everytime Simon said something referring to a dog…
It was then that Derek snapped his head to me, the one visible eye going wide before turning back to the bushes.
Werewolf. Derek's a werewolf.
He whined a bit as he took in a breath, his muscles spasming again. I unfroze then, coming closer to kneel next to him and ignoring the smell of vomit.
"Derek?" I whispered, hesitant to get too close. He slightly turned his head again, his eye narrowing at me.
"Go." His voice sounded guttural, as if his vocal cords were changing too. I shook my head. As scary as he might look, he was in pain. He saved me when I was locked up, it was my turn to repay the favor.
"No." I said, getting a bit closer and placing my hand on his gently. "What can I do?"
His head lowered, his pants echoing around us. "Don't -" he got cut off by a series of coughs. I waited for him to regain his breath, moving my hand from his to his back, rubbing it slightly. I didn't know what else to do, this seemed to be the only thing I could do. Just… comfort him.
"Please.." he panted quietly, looking up slightly to meet my eyes. "Don't - Don't go." My eyes widened a bit as he looked away, heaving again. Never would I have thought to hear those words from him.
I quickly shook my head, making myself comfortable as I began to rub his back more with both my hands. Of course he would ask that, he was terrified. I would be too, if I was going through all of this pain.
"I won't leave. I'm here." I whispered calmly. "I'm here." He whimpered again, and I could feel his muscles spasming and his shoulder blade snap. My hands jumped back for a second, before putting them on a different place on his back.
I felt nauseous. Feeling bones break and move under someone's skin was terrifying. But I continued. I wasn't going to leave. I wasn't going to show him how scared I was, because he was the one who was truly terrified, the one who was going through all of this pain. I kept encouraging.
"It'll be okay. I'm here. You'll be okay. Just try to relax, don't try to fight it. Let it run its course."
It took about ten minutes of unnatural shifting before his body stopped, staying for a second before reversing back, his bones realigning and the fur receding. I made sure to rub the parts that were coming back slowly, trying to make it (maybe) a little less painful.
He still kept his face away from me, even as he gave his last whimper and fell to the ground. He had rolled onto his back, his arm over his face.
I sat still for a few minutes, letting the silence wash over us as he caught his breath. My hands were bundled back up, resting between my legs as I tried to look anywhere but at Derek. He had the foresight to strip down to his underwear before he… shifted. It was a good idea, but I couldn't help but blush at the sight. I'd seen men in their underwear before, or in swimsuits, but none of them really compared to Derek.
Derek was definitely not chubby. He was built like the freakin' terminator. He wasn't quite as big as Arnold Swartzenager, but he was pretty damn close… especially for someone who was only 17.
Our silence was interrupted by the slam of a backdoor. I stilled, looking at Derek in fear. The fear only grew as I heard Mrs. Gill's voice cut through the quiet.
"Chloe? Simon? I know you guys are out here. Come here now." I looked around me, trying to think of something. After a few seconds, a plan popped up, and I jumped over to grab one of Derek's shoes. He made a move to get up, but I pushed him down. I mouthed for him to stay as I took off one of my shoes and headed toward Mrs. Gill. I felt a wrist around my ankle, but I shook it off.
I made my way over to her, jumping as I tried to get the shoe on. Her narrowed eyes were glued to me.
"S-S-sorry, I w-w-was just g-g-getting some f-fresh air. I f-f-elt a b-bit sick…" I stuttered, drawing closer to her. She cast her eyes down me for a moment before meeting mine, walking up halfway to meet me.
"You do realize that that's not your shoe, right?" I acted surprised as I looked down.
"O-oh. I must've g-grabbed the wr-wrong o-one… It was p-p-pretty d-d-dark…" I said, looking up at her and trying to look embarrassed. It was quickly wiped off of my face as she grabbed my arm and shook me a bit.
"Don't give me that shit. I know all about your little escape plan." Her grin turned malicious as she gripped me harder. "There's no way I'm letting you go. You can see them, you can talk to them, and with just a few more tests, you can bring them here."
I started to panic more as I tried to pull away. "Wh-what? T-tests? A-And le-let g-"
She just grabbed me with her other hand. "Tell me, what did it say? The shadow in the basement?" I looked at her with pure fear. She did know something. She knew about that thing in the basement.. The Shadow Person. She shook me again, harder.
"What did it look like? What did it say?" I continued to try and fight against her grip, but found that it wasn't needed. Derek had crept up behind her before grabbing her and punching her in the middle of the stomach. She instantly fell, and Derek laid her down gently, double checking to make sure she was still breathing.
He gave a small sigh of relief as he stood back up, looking over me real quick before handing back my shoe. I gave a shaky smile and took his off, trading. We quickly put them back on and stood back up, him quickly grabbing my arm and practically throwing me over the fence. He was over by the time I picked myself up, and before I could complain, he grabbed my hand and dragged me forward.
"We need to hurry. They knew the plan. We have to warn Simon." I practically was running to match his pace.
"It sounded like they knew more than just the plan." I said quietly and out of breath. He just gave a quick nod in acknowledgment.
We kept quiet for the next few minutes, Derek continuously dragging me behind him. My hands were crying out in pain, but I stayed quiet as long as I could, too scared to make extra noise. I knew how important it was to get to Simon and Liz as quickly as possible, but my hand and my lungs weren't going to last much longer.
It was right about when I was going to say something when Derek stopped abruptly, causing me to ram straight into his back. I groaned silently in pain.
"Ouch…" I muttered grumpily. He let his hand slip from mine as I made my way to his side. I looked up to see him focused intently on something. "What's wrong?" I whispered. He raised his hand, motioning for me to stay quiet. After a moment, his eyes went wide and he hurriedly pushed me behind one of the houses we were passing by. We waited there for a moment, and I could hear the sound of a car driving slowly past us, before turning away. I looked up at Derek.
"You think it's them?" I asked quietly. He shrugged.
"Best not to take the chance of getting seen. We'll travel between the yards for now. Make sure no cars spot us." I nodded and started out with him, thankful that he decided to take things a little more slowly.
For the most part, we were able to get through with little problem. There were just a few fences we had to jump, with Derek practically throwing me over before he jumped to join me. It was all going well until we were just across the street from one of the factory's entrances. Derek had stopped and hid us behind someone's bushes.
I peaked over a bit to see a car parked in front of it, headlights still on as the passengers stepped out, turning on their flashlights. I squinted a bit to see that both were armed. I quickly got back down.
"You don't think they would actually shoot us, right?" Derek huffed and shook his head no.
"They're probably using it for an intimidation tactic." He waited another moment before grabbing me and pulling us away from the entrance and to a dark corner near the factory's fencing.
"We'll have to climb over. Think you can do it?" I nodded as I began to climb as quietly as I could. The fence was higher than I had thought, but I was able to make it to the top. I peered down to see that Derek was already on the other side, waiting. He caught my gaze and motioned for me to jump. I shook my head. There was no way. I had a hard enough time walking and not injuring myself. There was no way I was going to survive jumping.
I could almost hear his eye roll as he gestured that he would catch me. He then signed for me to hurry.
I sighed, mentally counting to three before pushing myself off of the fence. Sure enough, Derek caught me right before I hit the ground and quickly put me down, making his way to the planned meeting point. I followed after him, quietly laughing to myself at how crazy this all was.
Well, I thought. I guess Derek passed the trust fall, though I hope he doesn't expect me to catch him next time.
Derek rushed us to behind the main factory building, pausing to listen for a moment before continuing. About halfway past the side of the factory was a back door, left unlocked and rusting. Derek pulled open the door quietly, pushing me inside before closing it behind him. He pulled me down the long storage corridor. Boxes lining the walls as far as I could see. We were about to take the next door through when Derek suddenly stopped. He pointed to a stack of boxes.
"Quick, climb up and hide behind one of the boxes. They won't think to look up." I nodded and made my way up, seeing that he was doing the exact same thing across from me. Derek was able to hide himself in the shadows while I was able to fit in a small spot, boxes covering me from all sides, except for a little crack that I could peek through. We waited there for a few minutes before the sounds of footsteps made their way to the door.
My eyes widened as they made their way through the door. There, standing in front of two unknown guards, was Dr. Davidoff. The guards' flashlights showed enough for me to see that he wasn't too happy.
"Search the area. We need to find them before they get any farther." He snapped. The guards continued in, searching around the boxes and further down the hall. I couldn't help the small smile of victory that went across my face. As much as I hated to admit it, Derek was right. Most people didn't look higher than sound of radio static made me jump, quickly looking around for the source.
Dr. Davidoff pulled out his radio. "What do you have." He commanded. The voice was more quiet, but I was able to make out what they were saying.
"Rae's still with us, but the witch escaped. We're looking for her now." Dr. Davidoff gave a bit of a growl. "You let her ESCAPE?" He shouted. I cringed a bit at the sheer volume. The radio sounded again.
"Red team reporting. We've captured Elizabeth. Still no sign of Kit's boys."
I could feel my heart freeze. They had Liz. They knew who Kit was. According to Derek and Simon, their dad had disappeared before they were caught….
"Good. Blue Team, go ahead and leave. Red team, Liz will stay with us until we find the others. She may have some more information."
Confirmation was given before the two guards came back to Davidoff. He motioned for them to follow him out the door to search other rooms again. After a few minutes of silence, I could hear Derek start to get down. I was about to join him, but he stopped me, pointing to the window that was above my head.
Getting the message, I reached up to open it, waiting for him to make his way over. When he came up, I was still struggling with it.
"It's stuck." I whispered. He nodded and listened for a moment before taking off his sweater, wrapping up his fist before he punched through the glass. The sound made me wince, and he quickly looked down through the window.
"It's not too far. I'll jump first. As soon as I land, jump. I'll grab you and then we run. They're on their way back." Before I could nod, he was already up and over. I took a deep breath and climbed through the window before falling out. I felt my clothes catch on the glass for a second before I was falling again. I fell onto Derek and was immediately dropped on my feet, both of us taking off as fast as we could to one of the side buildings. After a few seconds of running, Derek's head whipped around to look at me quickly before he veered slightly to the right. We ran towards the shed closest to us, and Derek quickly snapped the lock and pushed the door open, shoving me inside and closing the door.
I was quickly herded into the corner, Derek and I blocked from sight by old and broken equipment. He peeked behind him real quick before looking down at me.
"Where were you hurt?" He asked quietly. I looked at him in shock.
"H-hurt?" I asked quietly. I looked down at myself, seeing if I had lost a leg or something. I suddenly felt pinpricks of pain across my stomach. I looked a little closer to see that blood was starting to show through my layers, along with small cuts through my clothes. There seemed to be about two cuts, not too deep, but enough to bleed a bit.
Derek grumbled to himself as he unwrapped his sweater from his hand. I held up my hands. "Wait. I have more layers." He nodded and waited. I was about to take off the outer layer before I turned to him.
"Um… could you turn around or something?" He rolled his eyes.
"I'm going to have to help you wrap the injuries. I'm going to see your stomach either way." I huffed and began peeling away the clothes. Derek, thankfully, was turned to the side so that he could watch the door. I was wearing a few sport bras, so I wasn't worried about him seeing that, I was just…. Shy, I guess. I never had the nerve to wear bikinis, let alone take my shirt off in front of someone.
As soon as I finished taking off my tank top, I handed it to Derek. I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for Derek to do what he needed.
He listened for a moment before ripping the shirt into long strips. He measured how long each one was against my body before huffing.
"Not enough, they'll have to go completely around to hold." He reached past me to grab the T-shirt that I put down and pulled back quickly to start tearing. I didn't have enough time to protest.
Once he was finished he tied the shirts together before quickly wrapping them around me.
"You need to be more careful." He grumbled. "We don't have time to stop every five minutes to patch you up." I glared down at him wrapping.
"Oh, my bad, let me just tell that to the monsters and the glass. I'm sure they'll understand." I snapped back quietly. I gasped slightly as he tied the bandages in the front a bit too tight. I glared up to see him glaring back.
"I'm just trying to sa-" He stopped abruptly and turned his head to the entrance. I listened and heard voices drawing nearer.
He pushed me back further a bit. "Put your sweater back on, quickly, quietly." I nodded as I reached for it, pulling my arms through. As soon as I got my head through, the door burst open. I quickly pulled the sweater all the way down and winced at the slight sound of fabric.
"Simon? Chloe? Are you in here?" Dr. Davidoff called. From the sounds of it, he was the only one in this shed, but I could hear the others banging around in the others.
"Derek?" He called again. It sounded as if he had stopped moving forward. Derek was still tense in front of me, just waiting to jump and run. His hand had reached out behind him, blocking me in.
"Derek, you know you're not ready to leave, right? You don't want a repeat of Albany, do you? Turn yourself in, let us help you."
I could feel Derek's hesitation, and I put a hand on his arm. He looked at me for a second before looking back ahead. Davidoff was pacing around the building, flashing the light.
"You and I both know that the world isn't ready to face someone like you." There was a few more minutes of silence, and while Derek made no move to leave, I kept my hand on him, just to be sure.
"How about Chloe, hmm? You know you can get charged for kidnapping a minor. You do realize she's only thirteen, right Derek? If you just come forward, we'll make sure that you don't get into any trouble."
Derek snorted, while I cursed under my breath. I whispered over, "I'm sixteen, damnit." But Derek just glared at me to be quiet. I took off my hand, slightly relieved. He'd lost him. The moment Davidoff made it about Derek and not about others, he'd lost him.
The sound of the radio came again, but I wasn't able to make out what was being said. I looked at Derek, gauging his reaction.
"Bring Liz outside of the warehouses. We'll give them a demonstration." With that, Davidoff left ours, slamming the door behind him. Derek peaked out before relaxing slightly. He nodded over to me and we made our way out of our hiding place.
"What do they mean, demonstration?" I asked Derek, worried. In movies, it was never good hearing 'demonstration' and then the name of your ally. But this was real, this was supposed to be a mental health group gathering back teenagers. They wouldn't do anything, right?
Derek just pointed to a slim window that we could peer out of, if we climbed. I made my way over, quickly climbing to the top of the stack of old supplies and equipment. The window was slightly open, allowing us to hear outside. I looked down at Derek, who decided to stay down.
"Do you know where Simon is?" Derek shook his head.
"No, but I can tell he's far enough away. His scent leads past Dr. Davidoff. If they don't have him now…" He shrugged. I let out a small breath of relief.
"Do you happen to smell Tori anywhere? I'm assuming that she's the witch that escaped." Derek gave a huff at that.
"Yeah, but it's far. She's long gone." No surprise there. I thought. I looked back outside to see a group of guards carrying a tied up Liz. When they came to Dr. Davidoff, he instructed them to put her on the ground. They plopped her down, none too gently, and she groaned in pain. Davidoff stood next to her, his eyes scanning the area.
I sucked in a panic breath as he was handed a gun from one of his guards. He pointed it straight at Liz. Ice ran through my veins.
"Now, I really don't want to do this, but maybe you kids will listen now." He unlocked the safety and Liz whimpered quietly through her binds.
He cleared his throat before he called out, "We need you guys to come out. Now. I would hate to hurt Ms. Elizabeth over here, but you're giving me very little of a choice. You have until the count of ten…"
I looked to Derek. "They've got a gun at Liz." I whispered, scrambling down as fast as I could. Derek looked at me, wide-eyed.
"Nine…"
I was shaking, my chest felt like it was being squeezed. When I finally got down to the bottom, I tried to head to the door, but Derek grabbed my arm. He glared down at me.
"What do you think you're doing?" He demanded. Davidoff continued counting down, and my palms began to sweat. I felt like I was going to barf.
"I-I-I need to g-g-get her. They -" Derek cut me off.
"I can't let you go out there. Who's to say they won't kill the both of you?" He growled.
"Five!" Davidoff called out. I could hear Liz struggling, whimpering and crying. I needed to reach her. I quickly turned to him and kicked him in the shin. I knew it wouldn't do much damage, but it was enough to shock him. His grip loosened and I pulled out of it.
"I can't watch her die! Not again!" I whispered loudly, running away from him and toward Liz. Derek tried to reach for me, but I quickly opened the door and shut it right behind me, hoping that he would take the hint and stay inside. I looked forward to see Davidoff staring at me, a smile on his face.
"Why Chloe! What a pleasure to see you. And here I thought I was talking to empty boxes." He grinned, a creepy, long victory grin that sent shivers through me. I walked over slowly, my hands raising.
"P-P-Please, d-d-don't h-hurt her. I-I'll go w-with y-you. So p-please…" He lowered the gun from Liz, and I breathed a quiet sigh. Liz seemed to as well, giving me a grateful look. I gave her a small smile, wiping my face up a bit as I continued to make my way over. I turned and glared at Davidoff. He motioned to the guards to restrain me. I grunted as they forced my hands behind me, making sure to hit every single sore spot known to man. I felt them zip-tie my wrists together before they sat me down next to Liz. She bent over to rest her head in my shoulder, giving a quiet sob. I placed my head over hers, trying to comfort her.
"Tell me Chloe, have you, by any chance, seen Derek or Simon? Maybe saw Tori running past you?" I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.
"N-no.." I started quietly. "W-w-we got separated. I w-w-was supposed t-t-to meet them b-back s-s-somewhere in the neighborhood w-we passed. T-The house w-w-with the tallest t-tree." I winced a bit to myself slightly at how lame it sounded, but Davidoff didn't seem to notice. He turned to a couple guards, whispering instructions before turning back to me with a smile.
"Well, Chloe, how sweet of you to help us. I'm sure Liz really appreciates the effort." She gave a shuddering breath as I shuffled a bit to put her behind me slightly. I glared.
"Yeah, well, when someone's pointing a gun at a friend, it makes it hard to stay quiet."
His smile became feral. "Yes. I find that's often the case." A guard reappeared at Davidoff's side, whispering again. My heart dropped down to my stomach as his face turned sour. He turned back to me.
"Tsk tsk, Chloe. It seems as though you've been lying." I stiffened, looking up at him. He pulled his gun back up.
"Now, I was informed that there were two sets of prints near where you came out of. I wonder… Just who are you hiding Chloe?" I gulped silently, trying to think of an answer before I heard a door slam open.
I hung my head in defeat, my eyes slamming shut.
This had all gone so wrong. There were four of us who ran, and only one was still out there. Well, two. Tori managed to escape for now.
"Put down the gun." Derek demanded. I peaked over at him to see that the guards stood a few feet from him, their guns pointed at him, waiting. He was glaring straight at Davidoff.
"Why Derek, how kind of you to show up. I was starting to think you wouldn't."
"Get. The gun. Away from her." He growled. Davidoff looked a little nervous for a second, before shaking out of it and putting back on his grin. "Now Derek, you have no need to worry. I need Chloe, unfortunately. She's viewed as a success. We'll need to study her further. Liz, on the other hand…"
It all happened so fast. Before I could process what he meant, he turned the barrel toward Liz and fired. Three times. I felt something splash on me, something warm. I didn't process what it was until I felt Liz slide away from me. I slowly turned my head, dread building. She laid on the ground, her eyes open and her jaw slack. Blood was leaking from her head and neck, quickly pooling around the both of us.
"L-L-Liz?" I asked quietly. Everything became distant, I could hear the sounds of a fight, but it was too far out. Liz was all I could see. Her empty eyes were staring away, the last of her tears drifting away.
"Liz…." I moaned, leaning forward. I rested my head on her shoulder, slamming my eyes shut and begging myself to just wake up from this horrible nightmare.
"Liz… wake up…. Pleaasseee.." I cried. After a few seconds of not waking up, I broke. I felt like a little kid again. I felt like I was back at that accident, trying to shake mom awake. I felt hands pull me up, but I fought. I kicked and screamed at whoever it was to let me go. To leave me with her. With mom… with Liz….
As I was dragged away, I couldn't pull my gaze from her. This was my fault. I shouldn't have ever agreed to this stupid plan. I should have never convinced her to come. I was supposed to stay with her. I was supposed to… to…
To get her home.
I screamed again, trying to fight the guards off. I bit and spit, clawed and kicked, but nothing worked. They just gripped me harder. I heard someone call for a tranq, and I looked in time to see someone aim a gun at me. Next to them, three guys were carrying someone. Derek's face flashed in my mind before I felt something stab into me. I fell quickly.
