SCHOOOOOOOOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!
SCHOOOOOOOOOLS OUT FOR EVER!
:D Just thought I would say that! Im completely done my Exams now so I wanted t write another Chapter…but the next one is going to have to be requested…'cuz im kinda running out of ideas for the chapters…well not ideas but chapters themselves….do you get what I mean? Well anyways, back on point. Im writing this chapter in Dereks PoV and its going to be two or three chapters put together because I cant just cut it off at the end of one…it would completely ruin it lol :D
Sooooo…anyone have any idea what chapters they are? If you don't then here ya go….Chapters 33 34 and 35 of the Awakening in Dereks PoV…here we go!
When we reached the next town with a bus station we found it to be a flower shop. The tickets were sold right at the till, and with no questions asked. I figured as much.
After we bought our tickets Chloe said that we still had some money left over, and before she asked what to do with it and the two hours before departure, our stomachs growled in unison and told us that we had no debate.
As we walked through the small town I noticed that it was starting to get dark, but still bright enough that no one would question a couple of teens walking around. As I took an breath I caught wiff of something delicious. Chinese! I lead Chloe toward the smell.
As the restaurant came into view I saw that it had a line up. Great! I was starving, and by the sound of it so was Chloe. I told her to go save us a table while I went up and waited in line.
The lineup took forever, a but when it finally got to two people in front of me I started to calm down. That is until I heard laughter break though the restaurant.
I looked over to the source. It was a table not far from Chloe, the guys and two girls, maybe a year older than me. The girls were trying to stifle their laughter but the boys faces were turning red. I looked from them to see what they we staring at. Oh no.
Chloe was sitting there at the table looking at the seat across from her, where I assumed I was to sit. Why were they laughing? Then I figured it out.
"Wh-what's wrong? Wh-what did I do?" she was so cute with her stutter, but her face was a mask of fear and embarrassment.
I started walking over to the table, glowering at the boys the whole way. As I got closer she leaped to her feet, looking like she was about to cry. Oh no!
Chloe looked like she was going to say something but then stopped. Her face became sadder than before, so im guessing that she just tuned into the table of teenagers saying 'crazy' and 'schizo'. I was ready to shoot them!
She stood there and took it. That is until I grabbed her arm, softer than I usually did. "Come on." I whispered to her.
Then the guy with the red face pipped up and said "Yeah. I think your girlfriends day pass has expired."
I lifted my gaze from Chloe, to look at the guy. I felt my lip curling into my scowl, but before I could do or say anything I felt a small hand grab my arm. I looked back down that the small figure in front of me. I blinked, Chloe's face was emotionless. I turned to go, her under my arm slightly now. As we did so the other guy started talking.
"Trolling for chicks in physic ward? Now that's desperate."
We were outside now, walking by the front window. Chloe looked through it, and I looked too. Every eye in the house was on us. Looks of sympathy, pity, distaste, degust. I quickly decided that Chloe didn't need to see those eyes and moved between her and the window.
It was to silent so I started talking. "They didn't need to do that. Those kids, sure. There idiots. But the grown-ups should know better. What if you were mentally ill?" She didn't even look up, just kept looking forward.
We kept walking until I saw an overhang and veered us under it, then stopped.
"You'll never see them again. And if they'd treat a real mentally ill person like that, then you shouldn't care what they think. Bunch of morons." Now I was ranting and trying to make her feel better.
Again she said nothing, just headed out of the parking lot. She was shivering. That's not good. I shifted in front of her, doing the best I could to block the wind.
"W-we should go." She said. She didn't look up at me but I could hear the hurt in her voice. "You need to eat. Im sorry." she sounded so sad that it actually made me want to cry.
"For what? Talking to yourself? So what? People do it all the time. They should have ignored it."
She finally looked up. "Would you?"
"Sure. None of my business. I-" She cut me off.
"-Wouldn't laugh and stare. I know. But you couldn't ignore it. Maybe you'd pretend not to notice, but you'd still think about it, about the person doing it, what was wrong with her, weather she was going to freak out and pull a gun or…" She trailed off and wrapped her arms around herself. I wish I could have done that for her. I was probably warmer than her anyways. "I'm babbling, but you know what I mean. I was sitting in a restaurant, carrying a conversation with someone and I never even guessed it was a ghost." She looked so lost, and small.
"You'll figure it out."
"How? They look like people. They sound like people. Unless they walk through the furniture, there's no clue. Do I have to stop talking to strangers? Ignore every person who walks up to me? That'll look normal." She shook her head. "babbling again. I'm sorry. And im sorry you got caught up in that."
"You think I care?" I leaned down with my hand outstretched on the wall. My face closer to hers. If I moved in a little bit more…Now's not the time! "You'll work it out. Other necromancers do. You just need to figure out the tricks of the trade."
"Before I get locked up?"
"Much more of this on-the-run stuff, and you might be walking into restaurants talking to yourself on purpose, trying to get locked up someplace with a bed and a hot shower."
A small smile spread on her lips. "Right now, I'd settle for hot food." That I could do.
"How about hot chocolate?"
"What?" she looked at me like I had gone crazy.
"On our way here I saw one of those fancy coffee places, some Starbucks knockoff. Big armchairs, and fireplace…Didn't look to busy. This isn't exactly a five-dollar-coffee town." She smiled. A real smile that lit up her face in the best way. Even though she could use some sleep she looked healthier when she smiled.
"It's settled then. We'll get some brownies or cookies to eat. A real nutritious dinner. Now I think it was this way…"
And we sat out.
It was getting even colder out now so I tried to get Chloe out of the cold as quickly as possible and to the bus stop that was down the street from the coffee shop. We cut through a few parking lots, then Chloe started heading toward a park stretch. You could see the bus stop the other side of it.
I stopped her. "That's not always the place you want to be at night." I reminded her.
I scanned the park as I sampled the breeze. The wind was coming at our backs so I couldn't get a good wiff of the park, so I tried to listen instead. It worked better.
"Empty. Lets go.
We jogged, well I jogged she ran after me, across the street to the park. We were left in the open now, the wind was much worse and coming from most sides so I couldn't even shield Chloe from it.
Every little sound put me on edge. I had this creeping feeling that there was something else here.
As we passed the swings Chloe stumbled backwards from a sudden gust of wind into her shoulder. She got a mouth full of sand too. I grabbed to help her but as I took an intake of breath my head shot up.
"What do you smell?"
"I'm not sure…I thought I-" The wind changed and my nostrils flared. My eyes went wide as I yelled , "Run!"
I gave her a shove and she brook into a sprint. She was pretty fast when she wanted to be really. I stayed behind her.
Then I heard a footstep off to the right. "Chloe!" I grabbed her by the shoulders, her feet flying out from underneath her. I backed up against the plastic playground thing as two figures emerged at both of our exit points. I glanced behind me. There was no way to get trough the playset before they caught us. Shit!
These weren't the type of guys that hung around the park harassing people for their money. These were the type of people you would think of in a movie. Well one that involved Supernatural's, which most do now.
Chloe must have realized what was wrong with this picture because she shrank back into me.
I tightened my hold on her shoulders, leaned down and whispered, "Werewolf's."
The men stopped just feet in front of Chloe and I couldn't let them get any closer.
"We were just passing through." I kept my voice steady. "If this is your territory-" I was cut off by the blond one.
"Did you hear that Ramon? He asked if this was our territory."
"I know tour werewolfs, and I know-" I was cut off again, only by Ramon, I think.
"Werewolf's?" He drawled. "Did you say werewolfs?" the blond one put his finger to his lips, "shhhhh!"ed me, and then nodded towards Chloe.
I just said "She knows." There was no use in lying to them, just gives them more reason to kill you.
"Tsk-tsk. That's against the rules, pup. You don't go telling your girlfriends what you are, even the cute ones. Didn't your daddy teach you better than that? Whos you daddy, by the way?"
I didn't say anything for two reasons. One: I had NO IDEA who my father was, and two: Even if I did they would just use it against me.
"Hes a Cain," Ramon said.
"Think so?" the blond squinted, trying to get a better look at my face, then at my build. "Guess he could be."
"If you'd met more than one, Liam, you wouldn't be questioning. That"- he motioned to me-"Is Cain. Three things every Cain has in common. Big as a horse. Ugly as a mud fence. Dumb as a brick." I didn't even react. I knew I wasn't the best looking guy around, but I knew I was probably much smarter than these losers.
"then he's not-" Chloe spoke but I shushed her before she could finish. It wasn't safe for her to be out here let alone talking to these pedophiles.
It was to late though. Liam heard her. "Did you say something cutie?" He stepped closer.
"We're just passing through. If this is your territory, then I apologize-" I was cut off once again by the big buffoon.
"Hear that Ramon? He apologizes." Liam took another step closer. "You have no idea whos territory your on, do you?"
"No, I don't know you. If I should, then-" These guys were really starting to piss me off!
"This is Packs territory."
That couldn't be right. "No, the pack is in Syracuse-" Okay. If they cut me off once more I will do a lot more than I was planning on if they tried to touch Chloe.
"You think they claim one city? Their territory is New York state."
"You do know what the Pack does to trespassers, don't you, pup?" Liam said. "Your daddy must have shown you the pictures."
I still said nothing.
"The pictures?" Liam pressed. "Of the last guy who trespassed on Pack territory?"
Still I said nothing. There was no need to.
"Your daddy didn't like you much, did he? 'Cause if he did, he would have shown you those pictures, so you wouldn't make the mistake your making right now. The last time a mutt got to close to Pack turf, they carved him up with a chain saw. Then they took photos, and they passed them out as a warning to the rest of us."
As Liam said this, Chloe's heart rate accelerated highly. I could tel she was trying to calm herself, so as a little added comfort, I squeezed her shoulders, rubbed my thumb, trying to show her that we had to stay calm, and that their hearing was just as good as mine.
"No, I haven't seen them. But thanks for the warning. I'll-" OKAY! IM GETTING SICK OF THIS!
"Who is your daddy?" Ramon asked. "Zachary Cain? Your darker, but you've got his look. You're about the right age, too. And that might explain why he didn't raise you right."
"Him being dead and all." Liam said. "But if it was Zack, then you should know to keep off Pack territory."
"Should I?"I made my voice go completely emotionless.
"Don't you know how your daddy died? Dumb ass decided to join an uprising against the Pack, got himself caught. Tortured to death, right up there in Syracuse." He looked at Ramon, an evil glint in his eye. "Think they used the chainsaw?"
I cut in, having enough. "If the Pack's so bad, why are you on their territory?"
"Maybe we're Pack." haha Yeah right!
"Then you wouldn't be talking like you were, saying 'their' territory, what 'they' do."
Liam laughed. "Check this out. A Cain with brains. Must come from your momma."
:Do you want to know why we're here?" Ramon said. "A mission of mercy, and we're the ones praying for mercy. See, we hooked up with this kid from down under last year. We quickly found out why he'd left home."
"Man-eater." Liam said.
"M-man-eater?" Chloe stuttered out. Damn! I rubbed small circles in her shoulders with my thumbs.
"It's a disgusting habit. Now hunting humans? Killing them?" he smiled. "That's always good sport. But eating? Not my style. Well, unless you count that time in Mexico-" I cut him off.
"so if you're allowed on Pack territory, I'm sure they wont bother me. I'm not causing trouble." My voice was still strong and steady, but I was furious inside, at both myself and these dip-shits for stopping us.
"Can I finish my story?" Ramon said. Ha! Hows it feel now mother…wait not he time. "So this Aussie, he's not very discreet about his bad habit. The Pack catches wind of it. Nest thing you know, all three of us are on their hit list."
"The Aussie dude goes to ground," Liam said, "leaving ma and Ramon holding the bag. The Pack doesn't care if we're the man-eaters or not. We've had some run-ins with them before so, as far as they're concerned, we've used up our free swings. Batter out. They already caught up with Ramon once. Luckily, he got away. Or most of him."
Ramon pulled up his shirt. His side was pitted and puckered with healing scar tissue, the kind of thing you'd only see in SFX demonstrations. It was bad and I could feel Chloe squirming under my hands at the sight if it.
"So now you're heading up to Syracuse to talk to the Pack," Chloe said with surprisingly no stuttering. "Set them strait."
"That's right. Or that was the plan. But its Russian roulette, see? We throw ourselves at their mercy, and we might never stand up again. Then we caught an amazing break."
Liam looked at Ramon, who nodded. They stood there, a smirk working its way up Liam's face.
"The break?" Chloe knew I wouldn't ask so she did.
"I had to take a piss. About two miles north of here. Pulled off the highway, got out of the car, and guess what I smelled." Well shit!
"Me."
"The answer to our prayers. A Cain?" Liam shook his head. "What did we do to get so lucky? The Pack hates Cains. Bunch of Neanderthals too stupid to keep out of trouble. If we hand them you, tell them you were the one snacking on humans…" I shifted slightly. This was not going to end well. If they took me, that would mean that Chloe was either left here to fend for herself, or had to come with us, which I was not about to let happen.
"Thinking of leaving pup? That would be rude. You bolt, we'll have to grab your girl, hold on to her until you decide to come back and head me out." If they TRY to touch Chloe I will rip them apart! They would take her with them over my dead body!
I felt Chloe move her hand into her front pocket, where she kept her switch knife. I squeezed her shoulder, and started to rub them again. It started to calm me down, too, knowing that she was right there.
"Its okay." I whispered. "Its okay." But I knew she didn't believe me seeing as my heart beating into her back, faster than it should be.
"Sure," Liam said. "It'll be just fine. The Pack aren't complete monsters. This poor orphaned kid just screwed up. He'll never do it again. They'll understand. He's probably got a-" He glanced at Ramon. "Fifty-fifty?"
He considered it, and nodded.
Liam then turned back towards us. "Fifty-fifty chance of surviving. And even if he doesn't, they'll make it quick. No chain saw for you."
"Why are you telling us this?" Frig Chloe! Don't give them the satisfaction of getting a response!
"Good question, cutie. Why not just grab him, tie him up, toss him in our truck, and deliver him to the wolves up in Syracuse? Because the Alpha isn't stupid. If we throw him a kid who's screaming he didn't do it, he might listen. See, theres only one way this can work. It you boyfriend comes along voluntary and confesses."
My heart fluttered a little bit when he said 'boyfriend'. Yeah, I wish I were her boyfriend. I inwardly sighed.
I did my best snort. "Yeah."
"You don't like the plan?"
I shot him a look.
Liam sighed. Well that's just to bad then isn't it, you psychopath? "All right then. Option two it is. We'll kill you and have some fun with your girl." My anger flared.
"I'll do the killing. You can take the girl. Shes a little young for me." Ramon said.
Liam grinned at Chloe. "I like them young." Wow, he really was a pedophile.
His gaze traveled up and down her body, and I could feel every little hair pock through her shirt. My hands were like vise grips on her shoulders now, ready to get her out of the way when needed.
"Leave her out of this," I growled at him.
"Never." Liam barred his teeth at me. "I was almost hoping you'd say no. Sure, I'd love a scapegoat to feed the Pack. But a little cutie like that, who already knew what I am? That's…" He smiled at her now. "Sweet."
He gave her a look that made her shrink back into me, her arm stiff from holding onto the knife so hard. Then Liam stepped forward again. My arm shoot around her body, a growl working its way up my throat.
Liam then put his hand out toward her. I tensed, ready to strike, but then he pulled away, then did it again, and again, testing my reaction. It was the same every time, and he laughed, until Ramon started to laugh along with him.
"Check this out," Liam said. "I think the pup's got himself a mate. Isn't that the cutest thing?" Wait what? A mate? My mate? No, that couldn't be right…could it.
I then noticed that Liam was leaning toward me. "It wont work out. It never does. Why don't you just give her to me now, let me help you get over it. Painful, but quick. it's the best way."
That was it! I moved Chloe behind me. The men howling and laughing all the while.
"I think he's saying no," Ramon said.
"Leave her out of this," I said again.
Liam just shook his head. "How can I do that? Look at her. So tiny and cute, big blue eyes all wide and scared." He leaned around me trying to look at Chloe. "That hair doesn't do anything for her. I can still smell the dye. What color is it really? Blond, I bet. She looks like a blond."
I couldn't believe this. How did this even happen? We were walking to catch our bus then out of nowhere we are corned by two psychopathic werewolfs. This would not work out well for them if they tried to touch Chloe again…I needed to figure out a way to get her out of here, even if I had to go with them. I would rather have her on the bus leaving to find Simon and Tori then here with them.,
"If I go with you, she walks away, Right?"
Then I heard a whispered "No" from behind me.
"Coarse she does," Liam said.
Again I heard a whisper "Derek."
I put my hand behind me, gesturing for her to be quite. I was thinking of a plan that would include us leaving here together, and without these losers.
"Here's the deal," I said.
"Deal? This isn't a negotiation pup." Liam said. He sounded like he was getting irritated. Well that makes tow of us then.
"It is if you want my cooperation. I'll go with you, but the first thing we do is get her on a bus. After I'v seen her leave safely, I'm all yours." I said. It sounded reasonable. Of coarse once she was gone and we were away from the bus stop I would do my damndest to get back to her.
"Uh-huh," Liam rolled back on his heels. "Is your intelligence feeling a mite insulted, Ramon?"
"Sure is." Ramon strolled up beside his friend.
"You said you'd release her-" They said they would, and I was going to make sure she was safe one way or another!
"And we will. Once you've done your part. Until then, shes our collateral to make sure you do. And don't worry, we'll take good care-" I didn't let them finish. I shoot at them so fast that they were caught off guard. I grabbed Liam by the front of his shirt and whipped him into Ramon. They went down.
"Run," I said.
I say run and she pulls a knife, I say knife and she would probably run away.
"Run!"
I gave her a shove that sent her flying. Opps. It got her farther away from them so I guess it was okay. She started running but slowly.
I caught Ramon and whipped him against the fireman's pole, when he came at me, and hit his head with a twang.
Liam lunged at me. I feinted out of the way. While Ramon lay motionless on the ground-I really didn't care if I killed him, he was going to hurt Chloe!-Me and Liam faced off, circling each other. Liam lunged again, I twisted, but Liam caught the back of my sweatshirt, yanked me off my feet and threw me across the park.
I hit the ground on my side, and Liam bore down on me. I pretended to struggle to get up. I got far enough away that I could look up, and saw Chloe coming at us. I shoot up and ran to her.
We zigzagged through a dark commercial district, with Liam close on my heals seeing as I stayed behind Chloe. When we reached a townhouse complex, he fell back about 50 feet. He didn't want to be seen chasing a couple of kids cause then someone would notice.
On the far side of the complex was a strip mall. When we reached it, we looked back, and he was gone. We kept going, though, until we were another two blocks away, behind a closed bakery.
Chloe leaned against the cold brick wall, gasping for air. I felt bad that she had to do this because of me, but I was happy that we were now safe. Well, safer.
"You want tips on self-defense?" asked her, just noticing that I was breathing hard as well.
She only nodded, to out of breath to say anything.
"The first lesson our dad taught us? If you're up against a better fighter, the first chance you get, surprise them with your secret move…" I leaned down to her ear. "Run like hell." I know it sounded like you were just fleeing the scene but it was better then getting the shit kicked out of ya.
A laugh bubbled up and her teeth stopped chattering. She took a deep breath and relaxed against the wall. Good.
"So he was as strong as you are?" she asked.
"Whatever the scientists tweaked , it wasn't my strength. He might have been smaller than me, but he was just as strong, and he's got a lot more fighting experience. I was seriously outclassed." I tried not to laugh at my own joke, and instead wiped off the gravel that had been imbedded into my chin. "You aren't the only one whos going to need training. My dad taught me to use my strength to my advantage. Only that doesn't work fighting other werewolfs."
I rolled my shoulders, getting all the stress knots out, then pushed my sweaty hair out of my eyes. "We'll catch our breath, but then we need to move. One he figures out he lost us, he'll go back and pick up our trail."
"Im good." she said, straitening against the wall. It was obvious she wasn't okay but I liked that she was ready for just about anything. "Any time you want to go-"
She looked up, and before she could finish I heard something on the roof, then a muffled 'oph' from behind me.
"You boys not quite ready to leave, cutie. He has some business to finish first." I turned to see Liam standing there. Shit!
He hit me with an uppercut that sent blood flying from my mouth. Chloe was fumbling to get her knife out to try and help but I couldn't let her near the blood, or the werewolf. By the time she got it out of her pocket I had hit Liam and we were rolling around on the ground trying to get the upper hand in our fight.
This was the first real fight I had ever been in because I hadn't met someone who could actually take me, but Liam was a fighter. We fought. Blood sprayed-mostly mine…I think- gasps and grunts were heard from both of us.
From the sidelines Chloe stood there looking franticly about trying to find an opening. She was going to try and help. I really didn't want her anywhere near this fight, but if she didn't get him off of me then I may not be able to walk away from this.
Liam then got me on my knees in a headlock, his free hand in my hair. He yanked my head back and saw Chloe, standing there wild-eyed with a horrific expression on her face. Then out of nowhere, she ran at Liam drove the knife she had into the back of his thigh, and as far as I could tell, ramming it in to the hilt. I was proud of her to say the least.
Liam let out a howl and backhanded her, which sent her flying into the air, knife still clutched in her hand. I yelled her name as she hit the wall. I ran towards her as fast as I could.
I reached her just before she hit the ground.
"I-I'm fine." she said, pushing me away. It kind of hurt to be pushed away by her. Not physically, but it hurt my ego, as sad as that sounds.
She got her footing, took a step, wobbled again, but found it again.
"Im fine." Stronger this time.
She looked around for her knife which had fallen beside her when she hit the wall, and quickly picked it up.
I could hear Liam behind me, writhing in pain on the ground, snarling profanities as he tried to starch the blood flow. I grabbed her arm lightly and we took off.
This time no one was chasseing us, but it didn't matter. We kept going, we both knew that when Liam was able to, he would come for us.
I looked at her. She had blood covering her hands, face, and jacket. Shit! "We need to get you to a bathroom," I said as we rounded a building.
"Me? I'm-"
"We need to get you to a bathroom." I said. She looked at me and I guess she saw that I wouldn't take no for an answer, cause she closed her mouth. Her cute, little pink lipped mouth. Not the time Derek!
"He's going to follow our trail," She said. "We have to trick him." She was one step ahead of me know. I was in shook that she had done that to save me, and my boy brain had kicked in so I couldn't really concentrate.
"I know. Im thinking." I lied. I was thinking, but not about that.
Then out of nowhere she said, "Climb on the curb and walk along the edge." Huh?
"What?"
"Just do it." She was getting bossy now. That definitely didn't help my dilemma.
We jogged along the edge of the curb until she saw a door to a small apartment building. She led me over and pulled on the handle. Locked, I presumed.
"Can you break it?" Did she really just ask me that?
I whipped off the blood on my hands and gripped the knob. She tired to look at my face, and was closer than before. Yeah just keep coming closer…keep coming…Shut up! Now is not the time.
I yanked on the door, trying to get the picture of her kissing me out of my head.
We walked inside, circled around, then came back out.
"Now we'll follow the path we came on," She said. "along the top of the curb. Backtrack."
We were jogging along again, when she saw a puddle. "We're going trough there." I finally got what we were doing!
I nodded. "so he'll reach this, keep following our trail and think we're somewhere in that apartment, not realizing we doubled back on our trail. Smart." I had never mistaking her as the normal 'Dumb Blond' stereotype, but she never really struck me as the smartest person. I was wrong apparently.
Waddling though ankle deep, ice cold water, took the rest of the shock off of my mind, now al that was left was boy brain. It wouldn't stop showing me pictures of what we would be doing in that apartment right now, on the couch we had passed, pressed together…I had to stop thinking about that. Now!
Once we got to the other side if the puddle , I hustled her into a coffee shop. There was only a handful of people in there, all clustered together at the counter, chatting. No one noticed us as I leaded her into the mens bathroom and locked the door. Not a good situation when your brain isn't working the way its supposed to…
I hoisted her up on the counter before she could protest, then scrubbed my hands down as best I could.
"Uh, Derek…?" She said as she watched me wash and then grab a bunch of paper towels.
I took a wet one and took her chin, lifting and whipping it. Good thing I was wearing baggy pants.
"Derek? I'm not hurt." She said as she tried to squirm from my grasp.
"Your covered in blood."
"But its nor mine. Honest. It's from-"
"The werewolf. I know." I said as I picked up her hand and started cleaning it. "That's why I have to get it off." I said and ducked my head so I could get a better look at her hand.
"Derek?" she lowered her head towards mine, which was not helping. Im just glad I was standing off to the side of her legs. "Are you okay?"
I just kept scrubbing. "There are tei ways to become a werewolf. Either you're born one or you get bitten by one. If you get the saliva in you bloodstream, it's like a virus." Which meant that I couldn't kiss her.
"Blood, too?"
"Dad says no, it's just saliva. But he could be wrong, and you've got cuts and scraps and blood all over." I told her.
As I cleaned her up Chloe kept squirming around, I think she was trying to see my face. Why? I had no idea. Well maybe to check out the blood on me, but why would she care?
Finally I had enough and said, "Stop fidgeting, Chloe."
When I had done her hands, face and neck-which was somewhat difficult for me- she started to fidget again. "Okay, now on you." She said.
"Take off your jacket and sweatshirt." This was going to be difficult, but I had been pretty good at controlling my boy brain so far.
"Derek, I'm clean. Trust me, I've never been this clean."
"You've got blood on your cuffs." I pointed out.
She started to take her jacket off, but as she did it caught.
"It's caught-" She began.
I gave it a tug, and I heard a clinking noise as the chain to her necklace broke, the pendent dropping. I swore but caught it before it hit the ground.
"-in my necklace."
I swore some more, then said, "I'm sorry."
"The girl in the ally grabbed it. The clasp was probably weak. No biggie." I knew she was lying but I appreciated her trying to make me feel better.
I looked down at the pendent in my hand. "Wasn't this red before?" I asked.
She eyed it for a minute. "I-I think it's some kind of talisman. My mom gave it to me to ward off bogeymen-ghosts, I guess."
"Huh." Interesting. I started at it for a minute as well, then shook my head and handed it back. "Better keep it on you then."
She took it and shoved it in her pocket, then shoved her jacket and pushed up her sleeves. I had to detract myself, you could see some of her cleavage through her sweater. I washed her forearms until they turned red.
"Okay, now can we take care of the guy who was actually in the fight? There's a lot of blood. It seems to be mostly from your nose."
"It is."
"You got hit in the chest a few times. How are your ribs?" Why was she so worried about me?
"Maybe bruised. Nothing critical."
"Shirt off." Oh oh. Stupid Boy Brain!
"If you want me to leave, so you can look after it yourself…" Umm, no. She couldn't go out there anyways in case Liam was looking for us and was close by.
"Nah."
I Pulled off my sweatshirt and folded it on the counter. There wasn't any blood below my collar, where it had dripped from my nose and lip.
"Okay you nose. Is it broken? Does it hurt?" She asked.
"Even if it was broken, there's nothing you can do." except maybe make a different part of my body hurt. I couldn't even stop that one.
"Let me check your eyes." she said.
I made a show of grumbling. My face was closer to hers than ever before. Just a bit closer. She told me that I would have a shiner, but all I could do was grunt. I couldn't think about anything that wasn't Chloe. How her hair used to make her look cute and innocent but now made her look like a real necromancer. How her lips looked when she talked. How her breath smelled, even though we hadn't got to brush our teeth in days.
She wet a fresh paper towel. "You have dirt in your cheek. Let me-" Before she could finish or touch my cheek I caught her wrist and took the cloth and leaned over the sink towards the mirror to see where the dirt was.
I couldn't have let her touch my cheek. That would have just set me off and I wouldn't have been able to control myself anymore. My wolf and Boy Brain both agreed with me but they both thought that it was stupid. We wanted her and Simon wasn't anywhere close to us. I could have kissed her. There was nothing wrong with that.
"You're going to need to get that checked out." She said as she watched me.
"Yeah." I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time in a while and noticed that some of my acne was gone and my face was losing its babyfat, not that I really had any, but I looked better than I had at Lyle House. I may even come off as a okay guy now, well once I cut my hair and people could actually see my face. Then I noticed Chloe watching me.
I turned and stepped away from the counter. She passed me another piece of towel. I cleaned my neck and collar, which was freckled with dried blood.
"Still got that deodorant?" I didn't smell like I had before but I decided that I would put some on just incase.
"In the playground," She said, "when you were negotiating, you weren't serious, right? About going with them ? It was a trick."
I didn't even respond. I couldn't tell her that I would have if it meant that she got away without anything happening to her. I couldn't tell her because then she would ask why I would care, and then I would be forced to tell her how I really thought about her.
"Derek?" She asked when I didn't answer.
I didnt look up, just reached for a fresh towel, gaze averted.
"Did you hear anything they said?" She pressed.
"About what?" Still looking at the towel, I folded it carefully before throwing it into the trash. "Hunting humans for sport?" there was so much bitterness in my voice that, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her flinch back a bit. "Yeah, I caught that part."
"That doesn't have anything to do with you."
I lifted my gaze to hers. "No?"
"Not unless being a werewolf transforms you into a wolf and a redneck moron."
I shrugged and grabbed another piece of paper towel.
"Do you want to hunt humans, Derek?"
"No."
"Do you think about it?"
"No."
"How about eating them? Do you ever think about that?"
I shot her a look of disgust. "Of coarse not."
"Do you ever dream of killing people?" I shook my head. "Just deer, rabbits." When she frowned I continued. "For the last few years I've been dreaming of being a wolf. Running in the forest. Hunting deer and rabbits."
"Right. Like a wolf, not a man-eating monster."
I set the towel down.
"So why would you let those guys take you-" She stopped. "The Pack. Is that what you wanted? Tell them you'll go, and after they released me, tell the Pack the truth and use that as a…an introduction? Meet them? Be with your own kind?" I was shocked that she would even think that, but it was better than the real reason why I would have gone with them.
"No. That doesn't matter to me. Dad says it does to other werewolfs. It mattered to the other boys-they hated anyone who wasn't one of us. Me? I don't care. The only reason I'd want to meet a werewolf would be the same reason you would want to meet a necromancer. To talk, get tips, training, whatever. Preferably from one who doesn't think hunting humans is a good sport."
"Like this Pack. They kill man-eaters and they don't seem that thrilled about man hunters. Is that what you thought? You could go to them and they'd help you? When I asked if you were listening to those two goons, that's the aprt I meant-about the Pack. What they'd do to you. Killing werewolfs with chain saws and stuff." Did she really believe that?
I snorted.
"So you don't believe it, then." She visibly relaxed then nodded. "No one would do that. Cut someone up with a chain saw and pass out photos? Those guys were just trying to scare you." She sounded so sure of herself. It quite funny to watch really.
"No, im sure there are photos. And Im sure those guys believed the Pack carved up someone. But the photos must be fakes. You can do that kind of stuff with special effects and makeup, right?" I asked her.
"Sure, but why?"
"For the same reason you just said. To scare people. Liam and Ramon think the Pack really did it, so they steer clear of its territory. Doesn't seem like a bad idea to me."
"But would you ever think of it yourself?"
Another degusted look on my face. "Of coarse not."
"But you considered intrusting your life with people who would? Werewolfs who play judge and jury for their own kind? Torture and kill other werewolfs? Knowing that, you'd go to them, pretend you killed humans, and hope they'd go easy on you because you're a kid? Or were those odds okay with you? If they decided you didn't deserve to live, maybe they'd be right?"
She said it with sarcasm, but when I didn't answer her, I heard her heart accelerate.
"Derek!"
I trashed the paper towel, and turned back to her. Then I realized how close we had become and back away slightly. I was in-between her legs before I moved.
"No, I don't have a death wish, okay?"
"You'd better not." She said sternly.
"I don't, Chloe," I spoke softly. "I mean it. I don't."
Our eyes locked and the panic in her eyes turned to something that I couldn't place. It was something I had seen in the eyes of girls often enough when looking at Simon that I knew what it was, but I didn't understand why she was looking at me like that. I started to move closer without consciously knowing I did. I didn't even notice., That is until she looked away and said "Good"
I backed up again and said, "we gotta go."
She nodded and slid off the counter.
Hey…Is it long enough? I was gonna post it last night but I kind of fell asleep before I could finish it…I was done the first chapter in it but then I had to finish the other two when I got up this morning , and I had to work and…yeah. Sorry I couldn't post it last night everyone.
Hope you enjoy!
Love ya'll
~RenesmeeRedbird! 3
