HARSHER THAN THE BARK
Scarlett knocked on her brother's door even though it was already open. He looked at her but didn't say anything so she walked in and sat on his bed.
"What happened at practice today?" She asked as he flopped down on the bed next to her.
"What do you mean?" He mumbled. His face was buried in the bed and he looked worn out.
"I mean, you and Stiles just kinda ran off in the middle of it."
"So?"
"So, what was that about?" She was pretty annoyed by his short answers.
"Nothing. It doesn't matter."
Scarlett was getting sick of his attitude and she snapped at him.
"Like hell it doesn't matter! Scott, I am your sister. You're freaking twin and I know when something is bothering you. It's that weird twin telepathy thing that we have going on."
Scott didn't have time to reply before their mom stopped at his door.
"Hey you two, I've got the late shift again but I am taking Saturday off to see your first game." Melissa said happily to her kids.
"Great." Scarlett smiled. Her mom never came to the games because she was always working so she was glad that she was coming to this one. It would give her a chance to make her proud and show her that all her hard work and practice does in fact pay off in her routines.
"No. Mom, you can't." Scott groaned. Scarlett rolled her eyes and Melissa walked into the room.
"No, I can and I will. Come on, one shift isn't gonna break us." She looked around the room before adding, "Not completely," as an afterthought.
"I'm sure it won't mom." Scarlett said light-heartedly.
Melissa smiled at her daughter before she looked at Scott again, noticing something off about him.
"Hey, what's wrong with your eyes?" That caused Scott to sit upright and give his mom a questioning look. Scarlett took that as an opportunity to look and see what she was talking about.
"Dude, do you not sleep at all?" She asked her brother who gave her a weak glare.
"It's nothing. I'm just s-stressed…" Scott said although he sounded unsure of himself.
"Just stress? Nothing else? I mean, it's not like you're on drugs or anything right?" Melissa asked with a worried laugh.
"Right now?" Scott asked. Melissa's eyes widen and she stammered when she spoke.
"Right now? Have you ever taken drugs? Either of you?" She asked, sounding worried.
There was a small silence until Scarlett spoke up.
"Have you?" Melissa sent her a small glare but then looked thoughtful. She decided it would be best to just leave the topic alone.
"Get some sleep. You as well Scar." Melissa said as she walked back out of the room.
When she was gone Scarlett turned her attention back to Scott.
"So you're really not gonna tell me?" She asked, feeling shitty because her brother usually told her everything and now she was being kept out of the loop.
He didn't answer her so she sighed and got up.
"Screw you then, douchebag." She said before walking out of Scott's room angrily. Scott looked after his sister when she walked out and he felt bad but she didn't need to know about all this werewolf crap. She wouldn't believe it anyway.
Stupid fucking brother. That's what Scarlett thought as she made her way to her bathroom to brush her teeth.
She seemed to be doing everything in an angry manner, even putting her toothpaste on her toothbrush angrily.
Who does he think he is, keeping secrets from me?
Scott and Scarlett had a bond and you could say that it was just because they were twins but that was only part of it. They were each other's best friend if they weren't counting Lydia and Stiles.
Scarlett thought that her bond with her brother was stronger than that. Stronger than any stupid secret but apparently she was wrong.
When she finished brushing her teeth she spit and washed her face, trudging back into her room, reciting a string of curse words under breath. She was beyond pissed at Scott.
She had just finished putting on her pyjamas when she heard a loud noise. What was with those lately? She gulped and looked around for something that she could defend herself with if there was someone breaking into her house but the only thing she could find was one of her textbooks that was heavy as a brick.
Her steps were quiet and cautious as she crept, barefoot, through the hall and to the door of her brother's room where she heard him talking to someone. He sounded scared and she got seriously freaked out. She was about to turn the door knob but instead, the door flung open and she was startled at the sight of Derek.
"What the hell?!" She shouted, putting her hand over her heart as it started racing.
He gave her an odd look and she returned it.
"The hell were you gonna try and do with that?" He asked, walking past her and motioning to the textbook. She looked at the book and shrugged.
"I don't know. I freaked when I heard a noise and when you hear a noise you grab the first thing you find." She explained. He allowed himself to smirk when he turned around so that she couldn't see it.
Scarlett was still confused as to why he was in her house so she followed him down the stairs.
"Should I be worried that you're in my house? You didn't like hurt Scott did you because I actually wanted the pleasure of doing that myself." She said.
"We were just talking." Derek said emotionlessly.
"Really? Because he sounded like he was scared shitless."
"He was." And with that he walked out the front door, not looking back.
He was so strange yet so intriguing and mysterious to Scarlett and she liked it. She shrugged and closed the front door, wondering how he got in in the first place. She made sure it was locked before she jogged back upstairs and looked in Scott's room to see him talking to Stiles on his computer.
Deciding to just go to sleep she went straight to her room, turned off the light and jumped in to her warm, awaiting bed.
"So what, Derek Hale's a part of your exclusive little boy club now?" Scarlett asked Scott sarcastically when she caught up to him in the hallway.
"We don't have a club. I'm not even friends with Derek." Scott said, brushing it off as if Derek being at their house didn't mean anything.
"Well that's a lie. I mean, the guy was in our house Scott and you're just gonna say that you aren't even friends with him?"
"Look Scar, I don't know what you're getting so pissed about." Scott said nonchalantly. Scarlett gave him an incredulous look. What the hell was wrong with him?
"I just thought we were closer than that." Her tone was low and Scott noticed how upset she sounded and once again, he felt bad about it. He tried to talk to her again but she was already walking away from him. He sighed and carried on going to class.
Scarlett stopped outside of her class when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She took it out and unlocked the phone before reading the text from her mom.
Mom: Got the night off! Coming to see the game and watch you cheer! So excited!
Scarlett smiled at the text and replied quickly.
Yay, finally!
She shoved her phone back into her pocket and opened the door to the classroom, walking in, taking her seat and preparing for what was sure to be a boring period of History.
Scarlett and Lydia walked side by side as Lydia ranted on about how the lacrosse team was going to win the game. Scarlett could hear her talking but she wasn't processing Lydia's words because her mind was focused on how she was going to get Scott to fess up about whatever he wasn't telling her.
She had a few theories about it but none of them seemed like they could be true. Like, maybe Scott had joined some sort of cult with Stiles and Derek. Or maybe he really had gotten into drugs or he was just spiralling into insanity.
She pondered the last one for a moment before shaking her head. Scott wasn't going insane. She wouldn't let that happen to him.
"Which is why you should tell Scott to stop being a pussy and play the game." Scarlett gave Lydia a strange look when she finally decided to listen to what her friend was saying.
"Scott's not playing?" She asked dumbfounded. She hadn't known that.
"Yeah. He's trying to get out of it which is really stupid considering he just made first line. How do you not know this when you live with him?"
"I-I don't know…he's been pretty distant lately."
"Oh well. Talk some sense into him anyway." Lydia said with a confident smile.
Lydia walked off to Jackson and Scarlett was about to follow but she caught sight of Scott rushing outside.
That could be her chance to find out what the hell was going on so she changed her course of direction and instead hurried after her brother. She watched him get on his bike as she got to her car.
"What the hell are you up to Scotty…?" She mumbled to herself as she quickly got in the car and sped after her twin all while keeping a safe distance behind him so that he wouldn't notice her.
She was confused when he turned into the woods but she followed anyway. Luckily for Scarlett, he went down a path that cars could drive down.
There wasn't much around here so where was he going? The only place that was in this part of the woods was the old-
She stopped and cursed herself for being so stupid. Of course he was going to the Hale House. Or at least, what was left of it. After all, it had been burned down. Scott was probably meeting up with Derek.
Scarlett parked the car a little ways away from the house, still watching Scott who threw his bike down and started shouting Derek's name angrily. She got out of the car and snuck up closer to the house. She hid behind one of the trees, not wanting to risk being seen.
Scott stood there, looking around for Derek who was nowhere to be seen. His head snapped towards the side of the house where there was a big pile of dirt that looked fresh.
When he looked back, Derek was standing there and Scott jumped slightly. Scarlett chose that time to look around the tree and watch her brother's interaction with the older male.
She silently complimented Derek's physique which she could see quite clearly considering his outfit. He was lean yet muscly and toned, not too buff or anything.
"Stay away from her!" Scott shouted. Then he added on, "and Scarlett!"
Scarlett made a face at that. Was he talking about her and…Allison?
"They don't know anything!" Scott yelled again. Damn right she didn't know anything and apparently it wasn't just her Scott was keeping secrets from. So, Allison was in the dark as well.
"Yeah?" Derek asked, jumping down from the porch and walking towards Scott. "And what if they do? What? You think your little buddy Stiles can just google werewolves and now you've got all the answers, is that it?"
He couldn't be serious…Were the three of them on crack? What the hell is with all the talk about werewolves? Scarlett wore a puzzled expression as she continued to watch the two of them. Maybe they were all part of an online gaming thing that was exclusively for nerdy folk who liked supernatural things.
"You don't get it yet Scott but I'm looking out for you. Think about what could happen…You're out on the field, the aggression takes over and you shift in front of everyone."
Scarlett was beyond confused now. What the fuck was he talking about? What shift? Why would Scott have to worry about aggression and shifting? Why was Derek supposedly looking out for Scott? Absolutely none of it made sense to her.
She strained her hearing when Derek's voice got quieter as he picked up Scott's lacrosse stick that was in his bag on the ground.
"Think about it. Your mom, your sister, all your friends. They see you…" Scarlett's eyes widened and she had to slap a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from vocally freaking out at Derek making three huge claw marks in the netting of the lacrosse stick. "Everything…falls…apart."
Oh God. Oh shit. That's what ran through Scarlett's mind. That just happened. Holy crap…what if maybe…they were actually both…werewolves?
She didn't believe in that stuff. It wasn't real. It wasn't possible. Werewolves didn't exist. And her brother was certainly not one.
But there was no denying what she had just seen. Those were freaking claw marks in the netting. Normal human nails or fingers did not make claw marks. But Derek's did.
What if Stiles was right?
The very thought chilled her to the bone.
Her breathing got even heavier when she watched Derek toss the lacrosse stick in the air and then disappear completely as if he used inhuman speed to get away.
Scarlett couldn't believe she was actually thinking this could be possible. She decided that if this was real and…werewolves really did exist and one of them was her brother then she wanted to know everything she could. Which meant she needed to start confronting people like Scott, Stiles and Derek.
She stayed behind the tree until Scott had left and then walked to her car only to see Derek leaning against it.
Shit.
"Um, hi." She said trying to sound as casual as possible.
"Why were you listening to our conversation?"
"Well aren't you very to the point." Scarlett said, noticing Derek's 'no crap' attitude.
He continued to look at her with a questioning gaze and she started to squirm under it. Scarlett plastered on a fake and innocent smile.
"I was ju-"
"Don't lie to me." He cut her off. She swallowed hard, pushing away the chills she got from him demanding that she not lie.
"I was worried about Scott okay? Is that such a crime?"
"It is when you're supposed to be at school, you have no business being here and this is-" It was her turn to cut him off now.
"Private property. Yeah, I get it."
"Good." He said, starting to walk away. She pondered whether or not to say anything for a moment before she decided that it was now or never.
"Okay I just have one question." She called after him. He froze, having a pretty good idea about what she was gonna ask.
"The answer's yes." He said, turning to face her completely.
She gave him a puzzled look. "How do you even know what I was going to ask?"
He started towards her and she backed up ever so slightly making him smirk.
"You were gonna ask if I'm a werewolf." The way he said it so casually kind of scared her. "So the answer is yes."
She wasn't sure why she said it but she did and kind of wished she hadn't. "Prove it then."
He raised a brow at her expectantly and then all of a sudden his face morphed into something rather terrifying.
His eyes went from that gorgeous sea-green to an electric blue. Hair sprouted up at the sides of his face, looking like sideburns, his nose changed slightly and fangs grew from his canines. She then looked at his hands and instead of fingernails he had claws.
Scarlett's eyes widened and she felt her heart rate speed up incredibly and she was frozen in place.
She should've been more scared. Scratch that, she should have been fucking petrified but she wasn't. Something inside of her told her to stay calm. That Derek wasn't going to hurt her. She hoped that he wasn't going to hurt her.
She felt herself nodding slightly. "I believe you."
Her voice was just above a whisper and it was laced with shock but she didn't sound frightened which surprised Derek. He thought that she'd be running for the hills by now but she wasn't, she just stood there staring at him in what looked like fascination.
He shifted back to normal and he heard her heartbeat slow down considerably.
"And Scott?" She asked. Derek simply nodded. "What about Stiles?" She felt the need to ask even though it was only Scott that had got bitten.
Derek scoffed. "No."
"Okay so what was all that bullshit a few minutes ago about how Allison and I aren't supposed to know about this?"
"I figured that Scott and Stiles would tell you as soon as you asked so why not save them the trouble. But, if you tell Allison…I will make you regret it." Derek said sternly. His voice held authority and Scarlett felt herself nodding.
"You should get back to school." With that he turned and walked off back towards the house leaving a still very confused Scarlett to drive herself back to school.
Scott and Stiles both jumped when Scarlett slammed the door closed.
"Alright shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down. I know that you two have been lying your little asses off and now I want the truth." She said using her 'no fucking around' voice.
The two boys looked visibly scared, knowing what a temper Scarlett possessed at times. They both stopped talking and immediately sat down.
"I'm just gonna start by saying that I now know that you're a freaking werewolf Scott. Thanks for sharing that little piece of information by the way."
Scott's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?" He asked, trying to cover it up.
"I followed you today. Heard you talking with Derek and then he, of all people, was the one to tell me that this shit was real and he too is a werewolf."
"I'm so sorry. I-I should've told you but I was scared and I didn't want you getting hurt." Scott said sadly.
"He…told me not to tell so, yeah." Stiles mumbled.
"I just need things cleared up." She said looking at both boys.
"Okay, so what? If you get angry you turn into a man-wolf thing?" Scarlett asked once Scott and Stiles had finished explaining everything to her.
"Yeah. Pretty much." Stiles said.
"That's why Derek was telling me not to play the game."
"I get the feeling you really don't like Derek. Any specific reason or…?" Scarlett asked, wondering why the hate was turned on him. Apart from the slight creepiness of showing up out the blue he seemed like an okay guy to her.
"Scar, he did this to me. He's the one that bit me and I'm pretty damn sure he also killed that girl."
"Whoa. Scott, that's a pretty big accusation. I mean turning you into a werewolf is one thing but chopping a girl in half is a completely different matter." Scarlett said, not wanting to believe that Derek was a killer.
"It was him. Today at his house I smelled blood. Lots of it and what looked like fresh dirt."
"Whose blood was it?" Stiles asked seeming almost too interested. He was probably hyped up on Adderall like usual.
"I don't know. But we're gonna find out and when we do, your dad is gonna nail Derek for the murder and you're gonna help me figure out how to play lacrosse without changing because there's no way I am not playing that game." Scott said, standing up.
"I really don't agree with you on the whole 'Derek's a murderer' thing Scott." Scarlett said warily.
"He is. And you should stay away from him." Scott said before walking out with Stiles on his heels.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Scarlett called after them. When there was no reply she huffed and cursed under her breath before running to catch up.
"Alright, I'll go in and find out if the body smells like what I smelled at Derek's. You two, wait here." Scott told them the plan which was very simple before walking off, leaving Scarlett and Stiles in the waiting area of the hospital.
Scarlett shrugged and walked over to the desk before noticing Lydia sitting there. She smiled and went to sit next to her.
Lydia acknowledged Scarlett with a smile before indicating that she had an earpiece in and was talking to someone. Scarlett nodded and picked up a random magazine, flipping through its pages while she waited.
After a few minutes she noticed that Stiles was talking to Lydia although from what Scarlett could tell, he didn't know she couldn't hear him.
"Maybe it would be kinda cool to um get to know each other a little better." Stiles said awkwardly. Scarlett watched in amusement and tried not to laugh, covering her mouth with the magazine.
"Uh, hold on, give me a second." Lydia said, taking out the earpiece. "Yeah, um I didn't get any of that. Was it worth repeating?"
"Uh no," Stiles stammered looking slightly upset. "Sorry." He walked away, leaving Lydia to turn to Scarlett and give her a strange look.
"Who was that?" She asked. Scarlett understood that Lydia didn't often acknowledge the existence of people that weren't as popular as her but she found it odd that she didn't even recognise Stiles.
"Really? You don't know him? That's Stiles. Scott's best friend…" Scarlett said trying to jog Lydia's memory but she just kept giving her a look as if she was talking in a different language. "We've went to school with him our whole lives. Seriously? Nothing?"
"Nope…oh wait just a second." Lydia put her earpiece back in and said her goodbye's to whoever was on the other side and then she took it out again.
"So, what're you doing here?" Scarlett asked, going back to her magazine.
"Oh Jackson was just getting his shoulder checked again to make sure that it's okay for him to play." Lydia explained.
"Right…how is it anyway? I heard Scott knocked into him pretty hard."
"Yeah that was a dick move on your brother's part but Jackson's strong. He's pretty much made a full recovery."
Scarlett was about to reply but she noticed Jackson walking towards them, rubbing his arm. Lydia smiled and got up to greet him while Scarlett stayed put.
"How's the shoulder Jackson?" Scarlett asked, attempting to sound interested. He seemed to only notice she was there when she spoke.
"Better. No thanks to your brother." He said coldly. Scarlett rolled her eyes and put down the magazine, going to sit with Stiles who was just around the corner.
"Hey." She greeted him, taking a seat. He nodded to her but his eyes were focused on Lydia and Jackson who had started to make out. Scarlett tried to find something else to look at and her eyes found the book Stiles was pretending to read which happened to be about the menstrual cycle.
She narrowed her eyes at it but shook her head, choosing not to question it for fear of Stiles' answer.
"Bye Scar." She heard Lydia say. Scarlett looked up and gave a small smile.
"Bye Lyds."
"Bye Scarlett." She was surprised that Jackson had said goodbye to her but she returned it anyway.
"How does that even work…?" Stiles asked, turning to Scarlett.
"What? Lydia and I's friendship? Simple. We've been best friends since we were five. You can't break a bond like that." Scarlett explained.
Stiles nodded looking thoughtful, still holding the book in his hands. He jumped when Scott appeared, yanking it out of his hands.
"What'd you find?" Scarlett asked her brother.
"The scent was the same."
"Are you sure?" Stiles asked, jumping up. Scarlett followed, hating the facts. She really wished that Scott had been wrong and Derek wasn't a murderer.
"Yes." Scott replied.
Stiles nodded and looked around. "So he did bury the other half of the body on his property."
"Yes, which means we can prove he killed the girl."
"You know…he could just be getting framed." Scarlett suggested. Both boys gave her incredulous looks and she held her hands up in mock-defence. "Just saying."
Stiles shook his head and turned back to Scott. "I think we should use it."
"How? Scott queried as Stiles started walking. Scarlett turned and followed them both, wanting to hear what Stiles had to say, despite the fact she didn't really want to be involved in getting Derek in a hell of a lot of trouble.
"Tell me something first," Stiles said, turning to face the twins but talking to Scott directly. "Are you doing this because you wanna stop Derek or because you wanna play in the game and he said you couldn't?"
That was a good question…what were Scott's reasons for wanting to get Derek locked up? Sure, he changed him into a werewolf but to Scarlett it seemed that Scott was going to need Derek's help with this whole thing. And besides, she was convinced that Derek was no killer.
"There were bite marks on the legs, Stiles. Bite marks." Scott said, not really answering the question.
"Okay." Stiles said, seeming satisfied with his answer. "Then we're gonna need a shovel."
Scarlett's eyes widened. "You're not actually gonna…dig up the other half of the body are you?"
Stiles gave her a knowing smile. "That's exactly what we're gonna do."
She felt a bit sick at the thought but tried to suck it up because she knew that she was going to get dragged along.
They waited until Derek was driving away before Stiles drove up to the crumbling house. The three teens jumped out of the jeep, each of them equipped with a shovel and walked towards the big patch of dirt that was a different colour from the surrounding ground.
"Wait, something's different." Scott said, pausing for a minute.
"Different how?" Stiles asked.
Scott shrugged. "I don't know...let's just get this over with." They continued to the dirt and the two boys wasted no time in starting to shovel it up.
Scarlett watched them, clutching her shovel tightly. "Guys, I don't know how I feel about this."
"Scar look, this guy is a killer and he's gonna do it again if we don't prove it. So really, by helping us, you could potentially be saving someone's life." Stiles said, sounding very convincing.
Scarlett sighed. "Okay fine. I'll help." She walked towards the boys and started digging. She hated this and she still didn't think Derek was the killer but Stiles had a good point anyway. Someone killed this girl. Maybe not Derek but there was still a killer out there and they could help get him locked up which made her feel slightly better.
Between the three of them, they had dug up quite a lot after a while and Scarlett guessed that it couldn't be much further down.
Scott stopped and straightened up, wiping his forehead and looking around.
"This is taking way too long." He said, sounding paranoid.
"Just keep going." Stiles told him.
"What if he comes back?" Scott asked. He was on the verge of sounding frantic which made Scarlett start to worry as well.
"Then we get the hell out of here." Stiles said plainly.
"Well what do we do if he catches us? I may not think he's the killer but I'm not too fond of the idea of getting on his bad side for digging up his property." Scarlett hissed.
"I have a plan for that."
"Which is?" Scott questioned as he continued to dig.
"Scarlett distracts him with her femininity while you and I make a run for it."
Scarlett and Scott both stopped digging and glared at Stiles before saying "I hate that plan!" At the exact same time.
Stiles shrugged and then told them both to stop digging when his shovel hit something.
"What is it?" Scarlett asked. Stiles answered by crouching down and searching through the dirt with his hands. The twins looked at each other before shrugging and helping Stiles.
After a few moments they found bits of rope and started pulling at the knots that were tied in them.
"Hurry." Scott said as he watched Stiles pull at the rope.
"Yeah I'm trying. What? Did he have to tie the thing like nine-hundred times?"
"Here, let me." Scarlett said, moving slightly so she could untie the knots. When they were untied, they started moving the material and they all started screaming when they saw the head of a black wolf staring up at them lifelessly.
"What the hell?!" Scarlett shouted, clutching her chest. "Is that a wolf?"
"Yeah, it is." Scott answered.
"I thought you said you smelled blood as in human blood." Stiles said, sounding as confused as he looked.
The three of them were slightly panting and Scott shook his head a bit, shrugging. "I told you something was different."
"Yeah, like different fucking species different." Scarlett said, wondering how Scott wasn't able to tell the difference in smell between a human and an animal.
"This doesn't make any sense…"
"Yeah, let's just get out of here." Scott mumbled.
"So Derek is in fact not a murderer." Scarlett sounded slightly triumphant and she was relieved that Derek was innocent.
"We don't know that yet. He probably just moved the body." Stiles said before telling the twins to help him cover up the wolf head again. They began to do so but stopped when they noticed Stiles staring intently at something.
"Stiles…?" Scarlett asked wearily.
"Do you see that flower?"
"Yeah." She answered, noticing the random purple flower.
"What about it?" Scott queried, just as confused as his sister.
"I think it's wolfsbane." Stiles answered without looking at either of them.
"What's that?"
Stiles looked shocked when he looked at Scott. "Haven't you ever seen The Wolf Man?"
"No." Scott shook his head and so did Scarlett. She was never really into all that stuff.
"Lon Chaney Jr? Claude Rains? The original classic werewolf movie..."
"No, why?" Scott asked, getting frustrated.
"You're so unprepared for this." Stiles muttered, shaking his head at Scott who gave his sister a 'what the hell' look. She shrugged in return.
"We should probably watch those movies at some point Scotty. I mean, I'm sure most of it's bullshit but it had to come from somewhere right?" Scarlett suggested with a curious tone.
Scott nodded and then they both watched Stiles pick up the flower that strangely had rope attached to it. He walked in circles, picking up the rope from the ground until eventually something happened making Scarlett and Scott's eyes widen.
It didn't make sense at all but what was previously the head of a wolf was now the upper half of a dead girl's body.
The sight was fairly disgusting to Scarlett and she thought that she would be sick but at the same time she couldn't look away. It seemed as though she was intrigued by the body. And that scared her.
"Stiles." Scott said, not looking away from the body.
"Whoa." Stiles said, getting a shock at seeing the dead girl. She was covered in dirt, her hair was matted and her eyes were still wide open. Scarlett thought that she looked scared. That that was the last emotion the girl felt before she died. She didn't know why but that saddened Scarlett somehow.
The shock of seeing the girl passed in a few minutes but then a wave of frustration hit her. Scott and Stiles now had evidence that Derek was the supposed murderer and they would surely get him put in jail but Scarlett was so sure that he was innocent. She didn't know how to prove it though.
Scarlett watched the police escort Derek from the Hale House in cuffs. She was standing beside Stiles' jeep with Scott and she felt anger bubbling inside her. Then Derek looked at her and she felt guilty as well.
"This isn't right Scott." She said, shaking her head.
"Yes, it is. Why can't you see that?" He countered. Scott looked at his twin but her eyes were focused on Derek who was being put in the police cruiser. Scarlett's attention then turned to Stiles who was walking towards the cruiser. She saw an opportunity and she took it, running over to Stiles and getting the driver's seat whilst he got in the passenger's. Before she got in she vaguely heard Scott calling her name but she ignored him completely.
"Why are you in here?" Stiles asked Scarlett.
"Because I wanna hear what more you have to say about this whole thing. And I would also just like to point out the fact that I disagree with you completely." Scarlett snapped back, hoping that Derek caught that she was on his side.
"Whatever." Stiles sighed before turning around to face Derek who looked miserable yet deadly. Scarlett did the same and although he was in cuffs, she still admired his beauty.
"Alright, just so you know, I'm not afraid of you." When Stiles said that, Derek looked up and fixed him with a glare which was pretty scary. "Okay, maybe I am. Doesn't matter. I just wanna know something. The girl you killed, she was a werewolf. She was a different kind, wasn't she?"
Scarlett's eyes widened. How did he know that? Had Stiles discussed that with Scott already and left her out of the loop yet again? She listened intently while staring at Derek and as if he could feel her gaze, he looked straight at her and she could've sworn that his eyes softened a small amount before they turned cold again upon looking at Stiles.
"I mean, she could turn herself into an actual wolf and I know Scott can't do that…is that why you killed her?"
"Stiles." Scarlett hissed. She felt bad enough already that she was a part of the fact Derek was in this car right now but having to hear Stiles interrogate him made her feel even worse.
"Shh." Stiles said.
"Do not 'shh' me ever again Stiles or I swear to God I'll kick your ass." Scarlett said with a cold voice. She saw Stiles tense and she knew she had succeeded in scaring him. After all, she'd done it before when he pissed her off a bit too much.
Derek looked at her again, surprised at her feistiness but also intrigued by it. It seemed that there was more to her than just a pretty face.
"Why are you so worried about me when it's your friend who's the problem hm?" Derek asked. "When he shifts on the field, what do you think they're gonna do huh? Just keep cheering him on? I can't stop him from playing butyou two can." Derek then leaned forward and Stiles leaned backwards. "And trust me, you'll want to."
That's when Sherriff Stilinski opened the door and yanked Stiles out. Scarlett gave Derek a sympathetic look before she rushed out of the car and ducked, hoping that the Sherriff would miss the fact that she had been in there as well while he was arguing with Stiles.
When she realised that he hadn't noticed her, she made a run for it back to Scott.
"I can't find anything about wolfsbane being used in burials." Scott said as he scrolled through his phone. Scarlett sat in the back seat of Stiles' jeep, mulling over possible ways that she could speak to Derek and prove his innocence.
"Just keep looking. Maybe it's a ritual or something. Maybe they burry you as a wolf. Or maybe it's a special skill, you know, like something you have to learn…" Stiles suggested.
"I'll put it on my to-do list underneath figure out how the hell I'm gonna play this game tonight."
"Maybe it's different for girl werewolves!" Stiles said randomly making Scott snap.
"Okay! Stop it!" Scarlett snapped out of her thoughts and flinched at her brother's harsh tone.
"Stop what?"
"Stop saying werewolves! Stop enjoying this so much!"
"Hey, Scotty. You okay?" Scarlett asked, leaning forward and putting a hand on his shoulder.
"No!" He shouted, roughly shrugging off her hand. She sat back and glared at him mumbling curse words under her breath. "No, I'm not! I'm so far from being okay."
Scott wasn't looking too great. In fact, he looked like he was in some sort of pain and Scarlett began to worry.
"Okay, you're gonna have to accept this Scott. Sooner or later." Stiles said, reasoning with him.
"I can't." Scott's voice sounded strained.
"Well, you're gonna have to!"
"No, I can't breathe!" Scarlett's eyes widened and she didn't know what to do as Scott started thrashing around.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Stiles said as he swerved the car,
"Pull over." Scott said.
"Wh-why? What's happening?" Stiles asked frantically.
"Stiles, just pull over!" Scarlett shouted from behind him. He didn't listen and kept driving as Scott started looking through Stiles' bag, noticing the wolfsbane.
"You kept it?!" He asked with wide eyes.
"What was I supposed to do with it?"
"Stop the car!" Scott roared, his eyes turning a golden-yellow colour.
Stiles took one look at Scott and freaked, bringing his jeep to a screeching halt. Stiles grabbed the bag and ran out of the car while Scott kept groaning as if he was in serious pain.
"Scott… Scott just breathe." Scarlett said trying to be as soothing as possible when in reality, she was freaking out.
Scott ignored her and jumped out of the car also.
"What the hell Scott! Scott!" She called but he had run off and she huffed. "Stiles!"
"What? We're good-" He stopped when he saw that Scott was missing from the passenger's seat. He jumped back into the jeep and Scarlett climbed into the front. "Where the hell did he go?"
"I don't know he just ran off!" She told him. Stiles started the car and took off like a mad man, shoving his phone into Scarlett's hands.
"Find the dispatch number on there and call it."
"Why am I not just calling 911?" She asked, doing what she was told anyway.
"Because we don't need 911. We're just gonna see if they've heard anything." Scarlett shrugged and put the phone on speaker as it started ringing.
"Hello?" A female voice answered, sounding confused.
"Hey, it's Stiles."
"Stiles, you know you can't call the dispatch when I'm on duty." She said with a sigh.
"I just need to know if you've gotten any strange calls."
"Strange, how?"
"Strange as in, a person or…dog-like individual roaming the streets." Scarlett gave him an 'are you serious' look but he didn't see it.
"I'm hanging up on you now-"
"No! Wait, wait wai-"
"Goodbye." The woman said before hanging up. Stiles made a frustrated noise and hit the steering wheel.
"Hey, we'll find him." Scarlett reassured him, hoping that what she said was true.
The police station was quiet when Scarlett arrived, dressed in her cheerleading uniform. She knew she was taking a big risk coming here…Derek might not even speak to her but it was worth a shot. After all, she was trying to help him.
She took a deep breath and walked towards the front desk where, Thank god, an officer she knew was filing through paperwork.
"Hi, Tara." She said sweetly, gaining the police woman's attention.
"Scarlett! It's been ages since I last saw you. What brings you here?" She asked nicely while giving Scarlett's outfit a strange look.
"I was actually hoping you could maybe do me a favour…"
"Which is?" Tara asked with curiosity.
"Um, well, Derek Hale was brought in here today and I really need to speak with him."
"Derek Hale? The guy accused of murder?"
"He's not a murderer." Scarlett snapped immediately causing Tara's eyes to widen.
"Mhm, and why do you need to speak with him?"
"He's…my- he's my boyfriend." She rushed out, having to make something up on the spot. "I'm just so heartbroken that he's been put in here and he's being accused of something that he didn't do and…I-I need to talk to him once more."
Scarlett was putting on the most convincing performance possible, even turning on the tears a bit, hoping that Tara would buy it and let her see Derek.
"Isn't he a little old for you…?"
"Not at all. And besides, age doesn't matter when you're in love." Scarlett was really dramatizing it but hey, she needed to get in there.
"I'm really not supposed to do this but since I consider myself a sucker for love, I'll let you speak to him but you can only have so long." Tara said with a small smile while she got her keys out.
"Oh thank you so much Tara! I owe you big time." Scarlett said with a cheesy smile. Tara started walking towards the back of the station where the cells were and she gained a few looks but she ignored them.
There was absolutely no one back there except for the two of them and the very few people in the cells, one of them being Derek.
Tara walked to his cell and unlocked it before turning to Scarlett.
"You have a little over five minutes Scar…then I have to come get you." She said before opening the cell door and allowing Scarlett to walk in.
"Got it, thanks." She said as Tara left. Derek looked up at her slowly, taking notice of her cheer uniform before raising an eyebrow at her. "So um…you're obviously wondering why I'm here. And basically…okay, I'm just gonna get straight to it. Did you kill that girl?"
He gave her a glare but his eyes weren't as cold as they had been when they he was talking to Stiles. She took that as a good sign.
"Do you think I did?" He asked her, standing up.
"No. I don't. That's kinda why I'm here. I believe that you're innocent and I feel guilty as hell that I was a part of you getting arrested." Scarlett looked down at her shoes, feeling slightly awkward.
"I didn't kill her. But, believe it or not I actually need Scott's help to find out who did." He said solemnly.
"What? Why?" Scarlett asked, inching forward.
"Because somebody did kill her. Somebody that knew she was a werewolf which means that that person is a threat to all of my kind and Scott happens to be a werewolf as well. Not a very good one, but the only one around so I need his help."
"Okay…so what can I do?"
"Not much. But you can talk Scott into helping me, first by getting me the hell out of here. He'll listen to you." Derek said, fixing his intense stare upon her. He could tell she was nervous, he didn't need to hear her heartbeat to tell that much. He found it kind of cute, in a way.
"I'll try but I don't know…he pretty much hates you. I mean, you did bite him and turn him into a werewolf which has now led him to freaking out over the game tonight which, by the way he's hell bent on playing."
"Scott's gonna realise soon enough that he needs me and that the bite is a gift. As for the game, you need to talk him out of that." Scarlett bit her lip and thought about how exactly she was gonna do that. Derek watched her and he realised that for some very strange reason, Scarlett biting her lip like that drove him insane.
His eyes snapped behind Scarlett when he heard the female officer coming down the hall.
"What excuse did you use to get in here?" He asked her.
Scarlett blushed and he decided he liked that look on her.
"I kinda of said that you were my um…boyfriend. And that we are madly in love." She said with a small laugh.
"Better make it believable then." He muttered, not giving her time to question it before he took a step towards her so that they're was practically no space between them and grabbed the back of her neck, smashing his lips to hers.
Scarlett's eyes widened but then she immediately closed them, relaxing into the kiss, not caring why he did it, just knowing that she really liked the feeling of his lips on hers and noticing how natural it felt.
She had to stand on her toes so that she could reach him but she didn't mind. She could feel the warmth radiating off of him from the close proximity. His hands moved from her neck down to her waist and he gripped it tightly as hers own hands tangled into his short black hair.
The kiss was over all too soon when she heard a cough at the entrance to the cell. Breathless and slightly disorientated she turned to face Tara who looked awkward after just witnessing that. It looked so passionate that it was easy to believe the two of them were in love.
"Time's up." She said.
"Right…" Scarlett drawled, turning to face Derek again. She really needed to sell this. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now…but when they realise that you're innocent and they let you out I'll be waiting for you. I love you." Her voice was soft and sweet and innocent and she played the part very well.
Derek looked amused and was impressed with her acting skills. She even went as far as making a tear fall down her cheek. Derek then realised that he needed to say something back so he pulled her close and hugged her much smaller frame.
"I'll see you soon baby." He said just loud enough so that Tara would hear it. Scarlett went to pull away but he leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Nice outfit by the way."
Scarlett blushed wildly as she suddenly remembered what her cheer uniform looked like. It consisted of a fairly short and tight deep maroon-coloured skirt and a sleeveless shirt that went down to just above her belly button and had the letters BHHS across it in white.
Derek let her go completely and still blushing, she walked to the entrance of the cell where Tara was and walked out. Derek cursed himself for it but he couldn't help letting his eyes drift to Scarlett's cute little ass that was accentuated by the tight skirt.
Tara closed over the cell door and locked it again while Derek glared at her. It wasn't her fault that he was in there but he was still pissed. The only thing that made it better was that he felt he could trust Scarlett to convince Scott to prove that he was innocent. But, for now he had to wait and while waiting he decided to think about Scarlett because honestly, she's all he could think about.
"Goooo Beacon Hills!" Scarlett landed in the splits at the end of the routine and the crowd supporting the school's team went wild. She found her mom in the crowd and flashed her a dazzling smile which Melissa returned.
Getting up, Scarlett waved her red and black pompoms as she cheered for the Beacon Hills team that were currently running onto the field.
The game started and Scarlett wasn't too sure who had the ball but then she saw Scott running for it alongside Jackson who then pushed Scott out of the way, knocking him over completely. Scarlett was pissed and she wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of Jackson but she couldn't so she did the only thing she could do which was cheer for her team and also Scott as an individual. She only hoped that what Jackson did wouldn't piss off Scott too much causing him to shift because then it would be complete chaos.
Scott stopped, hunched over and Scarlett could only take that as a bad sign. Up in the stands she saw Allison and Lydia holding a poster that read 'We Luv U Jackson!' She made a face at it and instantly felt bad for Scott. He did say that he was playing to get Allison but then seeing her supporting the guy he hated…that must be really shitty. Her gaze went to Stiles who looked nervous as hell.
Something seemed to snap in Scott and all of a sudden he was playing like a freaking pro, dodging every other player and then scoring.
"Yes! Go Scotty!" Scarlett shouted in support of her brother, waving her pompoms madly while everyone else started doing the same and cheering even louder. He scored again, causing the ball to go straight through the net of one of the other team member's sticks.
The crowd roared wildly, impressed with Scott's new found lacrosse skills. It was decided amongst the squad that some of the girls should stand on the male cheerleader's shoulders, Scarlett being one of them. She was all for it and one of the boys helped her jump up so that she was standing on his shoulders, smiling and cheering.
Scarlett's eyes caught Melissa's again and her mother gave her a questioning look with a smile still on her face. She shrugged back, implying that she too knew nothing of where Scott's skills suddenly came from although she actually did.
"YES!" Scarlett shouted as soon as the ball landed in the net and the buzzer sounded. Beacon Hills had one more point than the other school which meant that Scott had just won them the game.
The crowds were all jumping and the squad ran back out onto the field, doing numerous flips. After that, Scarlett ran to Stiles and they looked at each other with shocked expressions before hugging victoriously.
"Did he shift?" She asked when they parted.
"I don't know. But it doesn't matter, we won!" Stiles shrugged. Scarlett smiled, supposing that that was true.
"Scar!" She turned when she heard her mom calling her.
"Hey mom!" Scarlett hugged Melissa.
"Can you believe it? Scott actually won the game!" Melissa's smile never faltered and seeing her mom so happy made Scarlett happy.
"Yeah, for a while there I thought he wasn't going even going to get the ball."
"I had complete faith in him the whole time." Melissa said with a sly smile. That obviously wasn't the truth but Scarlett laughed anyway.
"Well, I'm gonna go find Scott with Stiles so I'll see you at home?" Scarlett asked, making her way to Stiles who was waiting on her.
"Yeah. Don't be out too late though." Melissa called before walking away.
"I won't be!"
"Are you sure he's in here Stiles? I don't hear anything." Scarlett said when they walked into the boys' locker room.
"Yeah, where else would he be?"
They walked and then stopped when they got to the showers. Scott and Allison were in there kissing so Scarlett and Stiles walked backwards awkwardly, giving each other weird looks.
"God." Stiles murmured.
"Shut up." Scarlett shoved him. She was happy for Scott. Pissed that he played the game even though they all told him not to but happy that he won it and he got the girl.
Eventually Allison pulled away and walked towards them. She smiled and waved.
"Hi Scarlett. Stiles." She said. Scarlett waved back and then waited until she was out of the locker room to walk to Scott who was wearing a goofy grin.
"I kissed her." He said bashfully.
"We saw." Stiles said whilst nodding.
"She kissed me."
"We saw that too. Good job, by the way." Scarlett complimented. He smiled at her.
"I-I don't know how…but I controlled it. I pulled it back." Scott said, obviously referring to the shift. "Maybe I can do this. Maybe it's not that bad."
"Yeah," Stiles breathed out. "Well talk to you later then." He tried walking away but Scott and Scarlett both pulled him back.
"What?" Scott asked.
"The uh, medical examiner looked at the body we found."
"And…?" Scarlett prompted.
"Well, to keep it simple; medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal, not human…Derek's human, not animal. Derek, not killer. Derek, let out of jail."
"They let him out?" Scarlett asked, trying to contain her happiness.
"Are you kidding?" Scott asked, giving his twin a weird look.
"No and here's a bigger kick in the ass…my dad I.D.'d the dead girl. Both halves…her name was Laura Hale."
"Hale?" The twins asked at the same time.
"Derek's sister…" Stiles nodded.