Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers Series.

Chapter Five -

I was vaguely aware of Derek carrying past and away from everyone, and towards a bathroom, I'm not sure which, but it was definitely a bathroom because I could see the ugly off white tiles that covered the walls and floors.

I felt Derek reposition me in his arms and then set me down on what I guessed was the nearest sink. The bathrooms at our school had the great convince of not having counters, just the sink. Extremely helpful if you needed to set anything down and didn't want to set it on the floor. Note the sarcasm.

For a moment I felt nervous that I'd fall from the edge of the sink, but then Liz came to mind...Just bleeding on the floor…Blood. So much blood.

" –loe. Chloe. Come on. Please, Chloe."

"What?"

Confused, it registered that Derek was talking to me and I was staring blankly off into space…But there was just so much blood.

"Hey! Chloe, no. Stop. Come on."

"Huh?"

"There we are," Derek almost sounded relieved, but he shook his head and turned his focus to my hands. There was blood on my palms that spread up to my fingertips.

"L-liz. Sh– "

"What about Liz? You're the one that's bleeding. Or were you just screaming and crying just becasuse."

"No! Liz! Sh-she was there! She w-was o-o-on-n the floor a-and sh-she w-was bleeding ou-out and th-there was blood. So mu-much blood. Blo-blo…Oh god. Liz." I could feel tears streaming down my face and my throat ached from holding the sobs back that were scratching at me to come out.

"Chloe." Derek sounded defeated and just…beaten, like he was accepting something he hadn't wanted to, or was a lawyer who had just lost a case. "Chloe, Liz wasn't there. What you saw didn't happen here. Liz hasn't shown up yet. You need to calm down." With that he gripped my wrists, like he thought doing so would cause my attention to be firmly placed on him. Or maybe he was just trying to get the message across.

It took me a moment to understand.

"Wh…What?"

"I didn't see Liz bleeding out on the floor. Nobody did. Only you did, Chloe. Liz hasn't shown up yet."

"Oh," I nodded, trying to convince myself that what he said was true. At the same time…I know what I saw. I'm not crazy. I'd never imagine something like that. Especially imagine something like that happening to Liz of all people.

"Here," Derek sighed, lifting my hands as he did so, "let's clean up your hands and then we'll call Liz so you'll believe me."

I nodded my consent and bit my lip. I hadn't really noticed that I was bleeding, but now that I could see it, there was definitely a throbbing coming from the palms of my hands that was rather uncomfortable.

Derek back at me, as if assuring himself.

"Right, ok. I'm going to run to the Crew Shop real quick and grab the first aid kit. Stay here. Don't. Move."

I just nodded again, hoping I'd stay on the sink while he was gone.

It felt like it was forever that he was gone, but at the same time it felt like no time had passed at all, like he was suddenly gone, and then he was suddenly back like he'd never left to begin with. It gave me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, and decided to analyze that little bit later. Now was not the time.

Once Derek was standing in front of me again, he had me twist so he could wash the blood off my hands with a paper towel. It didn't take too long; it seemed the bleeding had subsided a bit and was already mostly dried blood. The cuts were a bit deep though.

Derek didn't say much while he cleaned me up and sanitized my cuts. He was really concentrating. It was funny, actually. His face was so serious, like this was one of the most important things he was going to do all day.

When he reached for the bandages and antiseptic cream, I noticed he really was taking this that seriously, it wasn't just his expression. I didn't even know what to think of that, let alone feel.

As he finished up with wrapping my palms with the bandages, I realized that I had stared at him the entire time and hadn't said a single word. Normally, I would've considered that incredibly rude of me and apologized, but I was still numb from what had happened.

Only half-aware that Derek was talking to me, I just nodded, and before I knew it had me in his arms again and was carrying me out of the bathroom.

I could get used to this…Given that it keeps happening…

My cheeks flamed. Shaking the thought off, literally, I was smacked in the face with the memory of Liz again. I paled quickly.

"– and should leave."

"Hrmm?"

I returned my attention back to Derek, realizing that I had been staring at his neck and had head resting on his shoulder. My cheeks tinted slightly but I tried to fight it off and it quickly ebbed away.

Derek sighed and restated his sentence again. Surprisingly there wasn't a trace of sarcasm or annoyance in his voice. His sigh had even sounded sad, not irritated. Strange…

He explained, again, that he thought he should take me home and he'd call from there to get into contact with Liz somehow. And then she'd come over and tell me how ridiculous I was being, or so he reassured me.

The only problem being that I didn't want to go home. No one would be there and after what I had seen I was pretty positive tonight would be full of all kinds of nightmares. There'd be no one there, and there was no way I was telling Aunt Lauren about this so she could come over and lecture me about bull. Without Aunt Lauren though, that left only Liz, and I was pretty sure Liz wasn't going to be available for any sort of bonding anytime soon.

I choked back a sob.

"Chloe?"

"Hm?"

"Does that sound ok? Or I can just take you home an– "

"No."

My voice was hoarse when I said it, a little desperate too, like I was afraid of my own house. In a way, I suppose I was.

"Ok…" Derek hesitated, trying to come up with a new plan of action. He seemed to know that I agreed on the leaving part though, so he started heading towards the nearest exit that lead to the parking lot, which was only a hallway away from the crew shop.

He stopped suddenly.

"Where's your backpack?"

Confused, it took me longer than it should have to answer, but he was patient. "Car. Why?"

"Where are your keys?"

Even more confused now, I told him they were in my back pocket, and he quickly set me down. I let out a huff, disappointed and confused. I just wanted to leave. I crossed my arms then, half to comfort myself and half to show my irritation, and stared down at my shoes while waiting for Derek to do whatever it was he needed to do.

Maybe he was lying and was just going to shove me off on somebody else now. I wouldn't really blame him though. I'd told him I'd just saw my best friend die, but there was nobody there. I'm not sure I would want to deal with a girl who was a bag full of crazy that I hardly even knew.

But, I wanted Derek to stay.

He made me feel safe, and that was exactly what I needed right now. He was so sure of himself and strong. Confidence just wafted off him he had so much, he had enough to spare and use as cologne.

"Chloe."

I tore my gaze from my shoes and halted my thought process to look up and see Derek with his hand out stretched in front of him.

"You want to hold hands?" I mumbled, confused. Is he kidding?

"Keys, Chloe," he chuckled.

I muttered an "Oh" and handed them over, starting to feel too tired to feel embarrassed at this point.

Wait…Why would he…?

I reached back out for my keys, "Wait. Derek, what do you need them for?"

He gave me a Duh sort of look. "So I can drive you home Chloe, why else?"

I scrunched my face up.

"Why my car?"

"Because Simon and I drove together, and he's staying. Come on Chloe."

And with that Derek took my hand and led me out to the parking lot.

"Which car is yours?"

"What? Why?"

Derek sighed.

"Chloe, please, which car is yours?"

"Oh. Um, it's way over there."

I got on my tip toes and pointed towards the middle of the parking lot. About two aisles away and twenty parking spaces back.

"You parked in the middle? You expected to leave after everyone else, when it was dark, and after a creep like Liam harassed you only a few days ago, yet you still parked in the middle of the fucking parking lot?" Derek was trying to speak calmly, obviously knowing by now that I didn't respond well to his sarcasm and rudeness, but his irritation was practically wafting off of him.

I didn't really see what the problem was though. I found a parking spot that was a pull-through, and I was fine with walking a ways. No one was ever around here on a Friday anyway. Football games were held over at the old high school, they had the better football field, and nobody wanted to stay long after school, not even the teachers. There was nothing to worry about.

So I just nodded and explained that I didn't have a problem with walking.

Derek put his head in his hands and pushed his hands back until the heels of his hands rested over his eyes, where they stayed for what felt like forever.

"When this is all dealt with, remind me to tell you all the things that are wrong with what you just said," Derek muttered, his voice muffled, "Ok? Ok."

I just nodded.

When we finally reached my car, Derek struggled with my keys, trying to find which was to my car. I gestured for him to hand me the keys, but he just pretended like he didn't even see the gesture.

Men.

"Where's your car remote?"

"What?"

"Your car – You don't have one do you."

"Do you mean the button thingy that can unlock it?"

Derek sighed again. "Yes, Chloe, that is exactly what I am referring to."

"No. That object is not in my possession. I can use big words too."

Again he sighed.

Once he unlocked the car, which actually took him a while, I took that as karma, we both climbed in and he started up my '96 Ford Taurus. Then off we went.

After about ten minutes and realizing that we weren't heading towards my house, and that he hadn't even asked where I lived to begin with, I started to wonder where the hell he was taking me. I didn't really feel compelled to ask though. Mostly, I figured he either thought it was so obvious that it wasn't necessary, or he was going to explain when he was good well and ready.

I partly didn't ask him because I knew he was frustrated and I didn't want him to end up even more frustrated with me if I started bothering him. He was being really nice and helpful, something that was pretty much unheard of when it came to Derek unless it had to do with his family, and even then it was rare to hear of him being nice to Tori.

After another ten minutes had past I was starting to get antsy. I was repositioning in my seat or moving my hands from one spot to another every few seconds. Derek must have noticed because he let out a curt "Stop that" that was just loud enough for me to hear him.

I immediately froze in the position I was sitting in.

When I didn't move for three minutes, my mind started to drift back to Liz. She looked terrified. I could feel that she was terrified. Then she was bleeding everywhere, and there was nothing I could do. She saw me, knew I was there, and I couldn't even help her. What if she thought I just wouldn't help her? I tried. I did. There was just so much blood. I couldn't even tell where it was coming from. There was just blood.

So much blood.

Just blood.

Blood…

That was all I could see. Blood. Blood everywhere. Blood. All over Liz. Blood. All over Mom.

Oh god no.

Don't go there. Not now. Not here. You can't. No!

I was already there though.

I was in the back seat again, my car seat holding me in place as I stared at Mom. She was on the ceiling. That didn't make sense though. Mommy can't be on the ceiling. How can that happen? No. Mommy's not on the ceiling. I'm on the ceiling, but I'm in my chair. Where's Mommy's chair? Why does she look weird? What's all that red stuff? Mommy wore a blue shirt today, where'd the red come from.

Red.

Blood.

Everywhere.

The car.

The car's upside down! Mom! Mommy! What's wrong?

Suddenly I wasn't six anymore and I was watching Liz die, not my Mom. It was strange, I'd never noticed the resemblance they held, but they were both pretty, tall, blonde, confident, kind, and dying in front of me.

Liz?

What?

"Liz?"

"Yeah, I know. We'll call her as soon as we get to my house. We'll even have Tori call her, ok?"

"Derek?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"Hm."

I wanted to say "Thank you" and be specific, but at the same time I wasn't sure if he needed to know that much about me just yet, or even if it was important right now. With all that was happening I probably wouldn't even remember half of this tomorrow. I'd be thankful if that happened actually. I think I'd want to remember the part where Derek was nice to me though. Yeah. That'd be nice. The rest I could do without though.

"We're here."

I snapped my head up at that. Where was here again? His house?

"Ok."

As Derek parked, I tried to get a good look at his house. I was surprised to see that it was very…normal. I just, I guess, hadn't expected that. The house was rather average, decent size, but not extravagant, it was even white with black shutters and roofing tiles. Another odd thought was that Tori and Simon lived here. This house seemed too normal for all of them to live here, but that was a thought process for another time, and when I wasn't ready to cry or throw-up at a moment's notice.

"Come on, let's go," Derek murmured, already opening my door and unlocking my seat belt. I didn't even bother to give a snarky "I can do that myself." I felt nauseous and I could feel a pounding in my head that throbbed from the back and bounced off my temple. All I did was nod. It was beginning to seem like that's all I could do. Great. Derek either thinks I'm stupid or a prissy rich girl by now.

Gently, like I was fragile and anything beyond that would break me, he grasped my upper arm and helped me out of the car. As he led me to the front door of his house I couldn't help but wonder what this meant. Did this make us friends? Is he really taking me inside? Why is the front door bright red? Ok. That's a little weird. Now I can see them living here. Heh.

At the front door, I expected Derek to pull out a hidden key from under the welcome mat or in a fake rock or something, but he just opened the door.

"You don't lock your door?"

"We do. It was just unlocked this time." He sounded hesitant when he said that, which was odd. When he opened it, it didn't sound right either, like the door was broken or something.

"Oh."

Author's Note:

Sorry this chapter is kinda short, but I think that's how I'm going to have them now, then there will be more and they will be more frequent! So, thank you so much for all the favorites and follows and the wonderful reviews! I appreciate those so much! I'll try and update sooner for the next chapter! Thank you so much for reading!

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