Hola! I got my reviews! Thank you, Fanfictioners! Even if it did take a few extra days... I got them! Hurray! Oh, and guess what? This one is the longest. 1700-ish. HAH.
Okay, so this chapter is a bit, umm, weird. It has nothing to do with the theme of the story. Sorry 'bout that, friends! It'll make more sense in a while, or maybe at the end of the chapter. It depends on how you look at it. The next chapter will for deffs have lots of fluffy brother-sister stuff. This is just a sort of... working up to it sort of thing.
Anywaaaays. Any questions? Put them in your review. I want to know what you guys don't understand. I'll try fitting it into the next chapter, or if I can't I'll message it to you. No spoiler questions though. That's cheating!
Oh, and can anyone help with the next chapter's name? I'm stumped. :l
We sat in the forest, where grass came up to our waists and trees occupied most of the space. It was a surprise Simon and me could sit hip-to-hip. The sky was almost completely dark now and it was getting hard to see just a few feet ahead of ourselves. Looking at Simon, I could see that he looked unsure of himself, as I'd been looking during all the time we had been sitting here. I didn't like that Liz was taking forever, nor did I like sitting in an almost pitch black forest. With Derek missing, with the highest probability of him having been kidnapped, it was scary.
"You sure she's coming back?" Simon asked. He didn't look at me when he said it. He probably felt guilty saying such things.
I pulled out some grass and threw it at him. "Of course she's coming back. Why wouldn't she? She's Liz. She's the nicest ghost I know," I said with a smile. He looked at me and smiled a funny smile, as if to say, Sorry, I know. I don't know what to think anymore.
"I know she is, but do you think we should waste our time waiting for her when we could be looking for Derek? She might not know what to do, where to look-" I cut him off.
"Simon, I told her everything I knew about this. She can move quicker, look around more... She probably has more luck than we do." I pulled out some more grass and began to make a pile of it on my knee.
He didn't say anything again. I eventually stopped picking grass because my pile was beginning to be too big and because I was running out of grass to take. Liz was taking a really long time. Maybe she was having a hard time contacting me? Should I try summoning her again? It was too dark to make out shapes anymore, and it didn't help that there were clouds today and now the moon was being covered by them.
A shimmery spot moved in front of me. She popped in, as if reading my mind that I didn't like being out here anymore. I murmured something about her arrival to Simon and let her talk.
"Hey, Chloe! I found him. Isn't that amazing? He's back at the hotel with Tori. He's pretty freaked out, too. Come on!" she said, making lots of gestures with her arms as she spoke.
I relayed what she said to Simon and I followed Liz back, and Simon followed me.
"Do you know what happened with him?" Simon asked, staring at the ground but obviously aiming the question at Liz.
"Nope. I rushed back here as soon as I found out. Him and Tori were talking in Chloe's room. Actually talking. Isn't that crazy?" Again, I repeated it to Simon.
"Woah. Okay." He took a deep breath and picked up his pace, squeezing in between the trees and me. He stayed next to me, his arm occaisonally brushing mine.
We made it out of the forest really fast. The hotel came into view a couple of minutes later, along with the sight of Derek. As soon as I saw him I'm sure my face shone so bright. I began walking faster and faster until I was basically running at him.
He opened his arms and closed them around me as soon as I got close enough. I buried my head in his chest.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to me. Hearing his voice was the prettiest music anyone could play for me.
I didn't remove my head from its place. "You had me so worried."
Derek moved backwards so I could see him. His face looked sad. One of his hands came out towards me and it lifted my face and I sort of freaked out, wondering what he was doing. Then, lazily, he brushed a hand across my face and brought it a few inches in front of my eyes.
There were actual tears.
"I'm sorry," he whispered again. "I didn't mean to scare anyone." He took my hand and started walking me to the hotel but I stopped him with a gentle tug. He knew to stop. He knew that I could never actually make him stop, he was just being nice.
"Tell me what happened."
"After, okay? I'll tell you everything. I promise, just not here." He began walking with me in tow, but again, I stopped him.
"Derek," I warned.
He looked down at me, his eyes so green and wonderful. Not too long ago I'd thought that I'd never see them again, those beautiful bright green eyes. Now, I wanted to cry harder. I was so happy to have found him. "Please? I don't think we should talk here. There are people everywhere."
I looked around. There were a couple of people, though they were all headed towards the hotel. I turned to Derek again, a protest springing to my lips but he shook his head and we walked again. I peeked behind me to see Simon watching us with a look of complete confusion. I shrugged and pointed to the hotel. He went.
We got to my hotel room and I expected to see Tori there, where Liz had said she'd be, but she wasn't. It was empty and quiet. It was just as I'd left it when I had been leaving to get Derek from the hammock-thing. Derek set me down on my bed but didn't let go of my hand. I motioned for him to tell me.
"If I say that I don't know what happened, would that be good enough?" he asked. I stared at him. He sighed and said, "When my dad and your aunt got back, they smelled weird. Sort of like... werewolves. Not them, literally, but on them. I went to check the van and it was all over it, too."
"Then what?" I asked, not understanding how this made him disappear for over two hours.
"There was this woman who came up to me in the parking lot. She asked me if I was lost. I said no and tried to walk away from her but she grabbed my arm. It was her. She's the girl with the funky smell. Then I started thinking, What the Hell is her smell doing all over Dad? And Lauren? I followed her for a little bit. She went back into the hotel, into one of the employee rooms." He went to say more but I stopped him.
"I think she's the one who talked to me before. She asked me the same thing."
"She talked to you?" he asked, startled.
I nodded. "She did the same thing. When I didn't find you here when I woke up I went to check for you at the hammock you always swing on. You weren't there so I just started looking around for you, kind of, and she came up to me."
He looked away, thinking.
What did this mean? Was the woman a werewolf? Was that why I felt scared and edgy when I was talking to her? And, what did she want with Derek? She certainly seemed to care about him the most during our conversation.
If she were a werewolf, she would want Derek off of her territory. Derek had explained that they were really personal about their space, that they didn't want anyone in it. He'd said that it was hard to even be in a hotel. Having new scents coming in, maids or room service or anyone, unsettles them. Could the woman just be protecting herself?
"I don't think she's a werewolf though," he said finally. "I know you don't understand all of this, but it's different. There's a female werewolf, the only one, in the Pack. I've smelt it before. Compared to the creep, they're nothing alike."
How did Derek smell her before? That question repeated in my head constantly for the next few seconds until my head tried answering it. Hadn't we been threatened to be brought to them by Liam and Ramon? The Pack sounded scary. How, if not when, did this happen?
The door opened and Tori walked in, completely interrupting us. She smiled a bit. "Hey, Derek."
I began laughing hard. Wow, there really were firsts for everything. She stared at me like I was a moron. Derek watched me with understanding.
"Um, hi," Derek replied, with just as much awkwardness.
Hey, if you like my story... review. If you hate my story... review. I'm not writing the next chapter until I get, hmm, 5 in total. I don't care if they're trashy or the nicest things in the world. So, go! Hit that button! Type them words!
-Emily!
