Brace yourselves for dramatic plot twist! Major chapter!
The more time we spent in the house, the edgier Derek became. Fortunately, that was also the more relaxed the rest of us became.
"Ok, dude," Simon was trying to persuade him to relax. "If they haven't come to get us by now, they don't know we're in here."
"You don't know that."
"Breathe, Wolfy." Tori didn't even look up from where she was examining the chipping nail polish on her fingers. "Not like we can go anywhere even if they did know we were here. The best thing to do now is enjoy life in a house and access to showers before we have to go on the run again."
Though crude, there was some truth to her words. We couldn't do anything about our situation, so he might as well stop fretting over it.
Eventually we got him to stop pacing, though I knew inside he would still be brooding. I was just glad he channeled most of his energy into finding out more about Margaret and Andrew's involvement in the Edison Group, moving on to examine the basement this time.
Tori was sentenced to laptop duty again, but the battery had died and oddly enough there was no outlet in my room. She was forced to move several rooms away, though "still close enough for you to hear me scream if someone tries to murder me," as she had so nicely pointed out. That thought made me feel so much better, especially since I wasn't entirely sure if the situation arose it would be mutual.
Since I was alone once again, Liz chose to reappear. "Hi Chloe." She was pale, even for a ghost.
"What's wrong now?" I tried not to say the words like a whiny child but I was getting tired of hearing all the bad news. Not that it was Liz's fault, of course.
"Derek's right. They know you're in here." I had a sharp intake of breath, shock flitting across my face.
"But they can't! We've been so careful not to leave lights on after dark, not to go outside, to be quiet-" suddenly a horrible thought occurred to me. "Oh no. It was my fault wasn't it? They must've heard me screaming last night-" I groaned, closing my eyes and banging my head against the back of the headrest in the ultimate position of defeat
"What? No!" she assured me. "It's not your fault. I mean, not really…"
"Then how did they find out?" I demanded.
"You know how I said they were tracking you with some sort of GPS thingy?"
"Right." I shook my head in self-disgust. How could I have forgotten to mention that to the others? "So they used that to know where we are? But where's the tracking chip it's following?" I had seen enough spy movies to know something about this tracking-device area.
"I wanted to find that out so I eavesdropped on them…"
"Did you find out what?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"What?" If we could figure out where the tracking device is we could get rid of it, solving this problem. "Where is it?"
"Chloe…" She took a deep breath. "They said something about…you. You and…tracking bullets."
. So it was my fault. This knowledge hurt more than any other I had gained in the past few weeks. We were sitting ducks, just waiting for them to come and get us, and it was all because of me.
Liz, sensing the direction my thoughts were taking, hastened to argue "Chloe it is not your fault. Do you hear me? Not your fault! You didn't ask to get shot-"
"I know." I gulped, trying to trick myself into believing what she was saying. "You're right. It's none of our faults. We just have to get rid of it now."
"Chloe, I don't know if that's the best idea. I mean, removing a bullet? Major surgery. You should wait and get to a hospital or something-"
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" I said briskly, trying to sound more calm and confident than I felt. "We can't escape while they know where we are."
She chewed on the inside of her cheek, deep in thought. "Ok," she sighed at last. "Let me see what else I can find out. Maybe I can somehow sabotage the tracking device…But promise me you aren't going to do anything rash? Not yet at least?"
"I promise." I didn't know what I would do to fix this problem.
"All right." she seemed satisfied with that answer. "I'll be back tonight- tomorrow absolute latest."
"Thanks Liz. You're a good friend." She smiled and gave a little wave before disappearing.
I knew of only one solution to this problem. "Derek!" I called, not caring if Tori heard me. She wouldn't respond anyway.
His werewolf powers must have been on high alert because I heard footsteps dashing up the stairs. "Chloe? What's wrong?" He skidded to a stop in the center of the room, relaxing visibly as he saw I was ok. "What's up?" he reworded the question, making it more casual.
I was suddenly aware that I was on the verge of handling this the wrong way, but I had already called him so it was too late to think up a better method of asking for his help.
I took a deep breath. "I want you to get the bullet out." I blurted.
He shook his head. "No way."
"Come on, I know it's a lot to ask but-"
"You think I won't do it because I'm scared?" he sounded mad. "Because I'm squeamish around blood?" What happened to the amorous kiss we shared last night? Where did all those tender feelings go?
"I wouldn't blame you if you were, but-"
"No! You don't understand- I could kill you." I opened my mouth to protest. "I don't have a clue what I'm doing. One wrong move and bye, bye Chloe. You've lost so much blood already, I won't risk you losing more."
"It's me you're worried about?" I gasped incredulous. "You think I'm scared?"
"No, and that's the problem. You should be scared. You're an idiot if you're not. You don't seem to get that you would probably die!"
"If I'm willing to take that risk, then you should be fine with it."
"Oh, so I should be fine with you risking your life?"
"Well, I don't see why you should care!" I shouted.
"You don't get it do you?" He shouted right back. "You don't understand that I need to protect you!"
"Because I'm your responsibility!" I knew I would regret this argument later but I couldn't seem to stop. "I know you wouldn't be overly upset if you didn't have to look out for me all the time!"
"I wouldn't have to look out for you all the time if you would stop being such an idiot!"
"Well, then. Maybe I'd better get out of your way. Wouldn't want you to actually worry about me and not just the fact that if I got hurt Simon would be mad." I shoved the sheets off and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. You're being an idiot. A voice in the back of my mind whispered, but I ignored it. Using the bed frame to pull myself to my feet I stood up and swayed a couple of steps forward before plummeting to the ground. A pair of arms shot out to catch me and swing me back onto the bed.
"Chloe…" his voice was thick with remorse.
"No. Don't apologize." I felt tears well up in my eyes as I mentally replayed the whole conversation. "I'm the one who's sorry. I just…I just think the bullet should come out."
"You were right, and I'm sorry." I couldn't meet his gaze, not wanting to see the hurt there. Him admitting I was right was a big deal.
"Hey," he gently lifted my face with his finger. "I'm not mad. And I'm really hoping you aren't either. Don't cry." he wiped away a tear with his finger, a gesture so tender I felt even worse about what I'd said to him.
"Can we just pretend the last five minutes didn't happen?"
"Sure." he agreed.
"How's searching the basement coming?" I asked after a moment, wanting to change the subject. He began telling me about all the old tools and things he found, though nothing useful. I nodded and pretended to listen, though inside the seeds of a plan were beginning to form…
Ok, again way to go lululara for seeing this coming! Any guesses on what Chloe will do to protect her friends? (I love this character- she is so selfless it is amazing! I think everyone should totally embrace their inner-Chloe :) and if that means getting a Derek, I know I would totally do that)