HARSHER THAN THE BARK
A/N: Sorry, I was too excited to not post this chapter ASAP. Btw, if you want, start listening to Say Something by A Great Big World as soon as you start reading this chapter.
Enjoy!
As soon as the bus was back at the school Scarlett wasted no time in grabbing her bag and running to her car which was still in the parking lot.
"Wait, Scar, where are you going?" Scott called after her. She hadn't heard him over the pounding of the rain so he had to run to catch up to her. "Scar." He put his hand on her shoulder.
"I need to see him." Was all she said before getting into her car and shutting the door. As she drove through the dark in the rain, her windscreen wipers going at full speed to keep her windshield clear, Scarlett thought of what her plan was. She didn't necessarily have one, yet. She knew she had to get to Derek and talk to him, be thankful that he was alive and tell him that she was ready to talk about 'them'. Maybe not get back together with him but express how she felt after their weeks of separation. Thinking he was dead made her realise how hard it would have been to live without him. She would always have him at the back of her mind, always plaguing her every thought. She wondered what he felt now. She knew he had been upset. He had kicked Isaac out, made careless decisions about fighting an alpha pack and he had kind of been an all-around asshole. But she wondered how he felt about her. Did he hate her? Did he miss her? Did he want to get back with her? She was desperate to know the answers so she pressed her foot harder against the accelerator.
When Scarlett arrived she didn't bother putting up her umbrella or even her hood. Her mind was driven by one thought and one thought alone; Derek. She ran through the rain, getting soaked to the bone as she did so, the wind whipping her wet hair in her face, obscuring her vision.
Panting, but without a second thought, she grabbed the handle of the sliding door and threw it open, eager to see the man she loved.
"Oh my God, Scarlett!"
It felt as though the air from Scarlett's lungs had completely abandoned her as she stared blankly at Miss Blake who had jumped up from the couch, pulling the sheet around her naked body tighter, at Scarlett's unexpected arrival.
Scarlett blinked, confused, trying to make any kind of sense at what she was seeing. She was at a complete loss for words as she felt some sort of mental wall break and the unbearable pressure of confusion, sadness, anger, betrayal and heartbreak crash down on her all at once. She began hyperventilating, not knowing what else to do with herself.
"Scarlett?" She heard a new voice that snapped her back to some sort of hazy reality. Nothing was really adding up for her except the fact that Derek had slept with someone who wasn't her so soon after their so called 'not-permanent' break up. Scarlett began shaking her head and turned, running as fast down the stairs as her legs could possibly carry her, out into the rain, knowing full well Derek was running after her.
"Scarlett!" He called. She ignored him and kept running, wanting to be as far away from that place, from him, as possible. "Scarlett! Please wait!" He sounded extremely close and she knew he had caught up to her when he grabbed her arm, halting her movement. "Scar- "
"Don't you dare!" She spat, eyes blazing with a fury Derek had never seen. "Don't you dare call me that. You don't have the right anymore." Her voice was strong but she could feel the lump in her throat as she ripped her arm out of his grip and she knew she couldn't hold back the tears of betrayal any longer. "How could you?" Her voice cracked as the tears flew freely from her eyes, blending in with the rain that sprayed her face.
Derek didn't have an answer, he just shook his head, feeling sick at the fact his actions had made her cry.
"After all we've been through? Do I really mean that little to you?" Scarlett felt a hole being created in her chest as she felt the loss of Derek's loyalty.
"You mean everything to me." He said pathetically, touching her face and his shaking his head.
She immediately slapped his hand away. "I thought you were dead!" She shouted, her voice filled with rage. "I cried and cried for you. Not a moment went by that I wasn't wishing you were alive and that I could be with you. And all along, you were just fucking my teacher." Her voice was venomous and it stung Derek.
"You said we were done." Derek countered. "Do you know how much that hurt me? Do you know how much pain I've been in since you left me? You left me, Scarlett. Not the other way around."
Scarlett couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was really trying to turn this on her. "Oh so you were in pain and you decided the best way to fix it was to screw someone else, knowing full-well how it would affect me?"
"Scarlett-" Derek began but Scarlett cut him off.
"Well, Derek, I hope she was fucking worth it, because you can forget any slither of hope there might've been for us." With that, Scarlett turned and walked through the rain, back to her car, trying to keep her breathing under control. Trying to not let the anguish take her over completely, at least not until she was away from there. She saw Derek still standing in the pouring rain and she drove away and the smaller he became in her rear view mirror, the bigger the hole in her heart became.
Scarlett's thoughts were jumbled. Her visit had been short but full of new information that she had no idea how to process. She was leaving with a completely different outlook and attitude towards Derek than she had going there.
Scarlett had turned her headlights on but despite that she was finding it extremely difficult to see where she was going through the rain. She leaned forward, squinting. She just wanted to be home so she was driving a lot faster and more carelessly than she should have been on a night like this.
Scarlett screamed as something ran across the road, making her swerve the car. She was in so much shock that she lost control of the car and it flipped off the road. And then it flipped again into a ditch. All the while, Scarlett kept her eyes screwed shut, afraid to look as she felt herself flip and glass hit her face and her seatbelt crushing into her to hold her back. The airbag inflated and her head smacked off of it before the car came to a halt, upside down, causing her to smack her head against the window and lose consciousness.
"Scarlett? Scarlett can you hear me?" Scarlett groggily came back around. She started to panic when she realised she was still upside down in her car and that she hadn't dreamed it. She panicked again when she saw someone crouching down next to her window. She felt like she couldn't breathe. "Scarlett, how badly are you hurt? Scarlett…" The voice started to fade away as she lost consciousness again from breathing too hard.
Scarlett woke with a gasp. She sat up quickly and immediately regretted it because she had the worst headache imaginable. Quickly the events she had been through came rushing back to her. Driving to Derek's, seeing her teacher there, arguing with Derek, driving in the rain, seeing a deer run across the road and the car flipping. What she didn't know was how she had gotten out and she definitely didn't know where she was now.
She soon realised she was in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. The room was practically bare, save for the bed, a desk and closet.
"Oh good you're alive." Scarlett froze. She knew that voice and it was the last voice she wanted to hear at the moment.
She looked up slowly at a smirking Peter Hale. "Where the hell am I?"
"Don't I get so much as a thank you for saving your life?" Peter asked teasingly.
"No." She growled immediately.
"Well then…"
"Why am I here?" Scarlett asked.
"Well once I pulled you out of the car I realised that your injuries weren't severe enough to take you to the hospital-" Peter began before Scarlett quickly cut him off.
"I was in a car accident, how am I not hurt badly enough to go to hospital?" Scarlett asked, incredulous.
Peter rolled his eyes. "You have a few cuts, maybe a minor concussion but nothing serious."
Scarlett's eyes widened as she tried to rise from the bed. "A minor concussion? And you don't think that's serious enough for the hospital?"
"Calm down, Scarlett." Peter told her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You're at my apartment downtown. You've only been here for a couple of hours. I was on my way to Derek's and I saw the wreck. I debated leaving you but then I thought, it would be a shame to lose such potential…not to mention a pretty face."
Scarlett felt herself calm down as Peter explained everything to her. Not being so clueless made her a feel a tiny bit better. She shook her head. "I can't believe you're still trying to convince me to become a werewolf. It's never going to happen."
Peter smirked. "Never say never." Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Bathroom's down the hall. I suggest you shower…you're all bloody and gross."
Scarlett looked down at her dress. It was torn and covered in blood stains. Her legs were bruised and cut, as were her hands. "No thanks, I'd rather just go home." She said, finally standing up.
"How, exactly, are you planning on getting home?" Peter asked with an incredulous look.
"You're gonna drive me." Scarlett said confidently.
Peter laughed. "No I'm not."
"Well then I'll walk."
"You're going to walk over five miles in the rain, in the dark, in your condition?" He moved aside and put his arm out for her to walk past. "Be my guest."
Scarlett glared at him. "I don't have anything to change into."
Peter smirked. "Well, nudity isn't frowned upon here…" Scarlett wasted no time in raising her hand and slapping him across the face. "I was kidding." He said, brushing off the fact she had slapped him. "I brought your bag out of the car." He went around the bed and picked up her duffel bag that had spare clothes in it before handing it to her.
Scarlett shook her head before sighing. "Where's the bathroom again?"
"Down the hall."
Scarlett begrudgingly walked to Peter's bathroom and shut the door, locking it, before staring at her face in the mirror. She had a burst lip, a cut just above her eyebrow and a cut across her left cheek. They weren't bleeding so Scarlett guessed that Peter had been kind enough to clean them for her while she was knocked out.
She didn't exactly feel comfortable taking her clothes off in Peter's apartment, knowing he was lurking around. The guy still gave her the creeps and she still hated him with severity but she guessed she could maybe thank him for not leaving her in the wreck. Who knows how long it would've take for someone else to find her. It was the middle of the night after all. Scarlett wondered what time it was now. She rummaged through her bag and thankfully found her phone unscathed. The time was 4:15am which meant she had been out for over four hours. She quickly texted Scott, telling him that she had fallen asleep at Lydia's after going to speak to her about seeing Derek alive. She then texted Lydia to tell her to cover for her and that she would explain everything when she saw her. When she was done, she turned the shower on, realising she had been standing there, naked, for a while.
Scarlett had to admit she had to give Peter props for having a stylish bathroom. The floors were glossy, black tile. The sink was pristine white and the walls were made of the same glossy tile as the floor. And the best part was the huge, glass, walk in shower.
Scarlett stepped into the shower, closing the door behind her and allowing herself to relax as the almost scalding hot water cascaded down her body. She felt like she could stay in there forever, not caring that she was wasting water. She used the shampoo that was already in there to wash her hair, twice, considering there was blood and dirt matted into it. She laughed when she picked up the conditioner. Of course he conditioned his hair. She debated using the body wash. It was men's which meant she was going to end up smelling like a guy but she quickly decided being clean was more important than caring about whether she smelled like a male or not.
When Scarlett was satisfied with her cleanliness, she stepped out onto the shower mat and picked up one of the white fluffy towels from the heated railing. She enjoyed the fact that the towel was warm as she dried herself off before using another towel to put her hair up in and walking over to her bag to pick out comfortable clothes to wear. As she looked through the bag she was reminded that she never wore comfortable clothing so she settled for the Nike running shorts she had brought for the cross country meet and a baggy top thrown over her sports bra. It wasn't ideal but it was better than wearing tight denim shorts and a crop top.
Scarlett wasn't sure what to expect when she walked out of the bathroom. In fact, she was a little afraid. Peter was unpredictable and she still had no clue why he decided to save her. It was very out of character for his usual evil-self.
Scarlett slowly made her way towards the living room where she saw Peter sitting, with his back to her, on one of the black leather couches.
"Feel better?" He asked. She could hear the smirk in his voice without even seeing his face. Scarlett narrowed her eyes and walked forward, snatching the glass of Bourbon from Peter's hand before taking a seat on the couch opposite him. He raised his eyebrows at her as she downed the glass, making a face as it burned her throat on the way down. "Strong drink for a little thing like you."
Scarlett sighed. "Yeah, well, after what I've been through, I need it."
Peter shrugged, standing up and taking the glass off of her before going to refill it and pour one for himself as well. "Was seeing Derek alive really enough to shock you into driving like a maniac?" Peter asked casually, already knowing that couldn't have been the reason for her accident.
Scarlett let out a short laugh. "I wish." She sneered.
"Do tell." Peter encouraged her as he handed over the glass of bourbon and took a seat next to her.
"God, I was so stupid to think I could just go over there and carry on like nothing had happened." Scarlett admitted, sipping the Bourbon as her mind replayed the image of Miss Blake, her teacher, looking shocked that Scarlett was there. If anything it should have been the other way around. Scarlett narrowed her eyes at Peter. "Did you know he'd been sleeping with my English teacher?"
Peter's brows furrowed. He genuinely hadn't known. "This is the first I've heard of it. He hasn't even spoken about another woman. He's been too busy moping around after losing you."
Scarlett gave him an incredulous look although something inside her said that he was telling the truth. "Really?"
"Really." Peter confirmed.
"Then why would he do it?" Scarlett suddenly snapped, still feeling hurt about the whole thing. She knew she shouldn't feel that way. They weren't even together but it was just the fact that she was going over there to confess that she still loved him and that she really did see a future with him and then all of her hopes were crushed as soon as she opened the door.
"Loneliness, maybe?" Peter suggested casually. "Come on, you haven't even thought of trying to get over Derek by being with someone else?"
"No." Scarlett said lowly. She couldn't believe he would even ask her that. That kind of thing had never crossed her mind. She still felt too loyal to Derek and sleeping with someone else would have destroyed any chance of them being together. Scarlett guessed that didn't matter anymore. Their chances had been destroyed the minute Derek even thought about touching Miss Blake. She wondered if he was genuinely lonely or if he was trying to get back at Scarlett for leaving him.
"Well, I guess I underestimated your loyalty to the man who betrayed you." Peter said nonchalantly.
Scarlett shook her head, ignoring him. "I just don't understand why he wouldn't even call to say that he was alive. Scott nearly killed himself out of guilt for Derek's death. Stiles and I nearly died for trying to save him. And all the while, when our lives were in danger, he was being a selfish bastard." Scarlett was seething with rage and Peter was highly amused. Scarlett stood up, feeling so overcome with emotion that she instinctively threw the glass against the wall, watching it shatter before sitting back down.
"I'm sorry." She apologised quietly.
"Don't apologise, Scarlett. It's okay to let the aggression out." Peter said coyly, moving closer to her. "You know, there is one way that you could get back at Derek for what he did to you. One thing that would really kick him in the balls…" Scarlett's brows furrowed as she looked at Peter who took her chin between his fingers and raised it so she was staring into his incredibly blue eyes. Scarlett felt like she was in some sort of trance as she kept looking into his eyes, not even aware that he was moving closer to her until she felt his breath on her face. At that point she snapped out of it and slapped him again before standing up.
"Never, in a million years is anything between us ever going to happen. Whether I'm pissed at Derek or not. You got that?" Scarlett growled out at him.
Peter smiled in amusement. He liked watching her getting wound up. It was so fascinating and he didn't care that she hadn't kissed him. It was worth a shot. Anything to get a rise out of his nephew… "My sincerest apologies, Scarlett. It won't happen again." He apologised with false sincerity.
"Good." Scarlett said finally.
"You should get some sleep; you've been through a lot." Peter said, standing up and walking past her.
"Promise me that you'll drive me home in the morning." Scarlett demanded.
"Sure thing."
"Scarlett where the hell have you been!" Melissa shouted when Scarlett walked through the door. Peter had just dropped her off at home and she was not prepared to face her angry mother. "And what happened to your face?" Melissa asked, concern replacing the anger as she gingerly touched the cuts on her daughters face.
"Um…I was in a bit of a car accident." Scarlett hesitated but she knew there was no point in lying. Her car was completely wrecked. How was she supposed to explain that without telling her mother the truth?
"Oh my God, honey, are you okay? Why didn't you call?" Melissa asked frantically.
"It wasn't that bad…"
"Well what happened? Where's the car?"
"I swerved to avoid hitting a deer and the car flipped," Melissa's eyes widened as Scarlett spoke. "But I'm fine. No major injuries. However, my car is not so fine. It's totalled on the side of the road."
Melissa sighed, putting her face in her hands. There was no way she could afford to have the car fixed but that wasn't the main priority right now. "If you were able to get up and walk, why didn't you call one of us to come and get you? Why did you stay out all night and where were you coming back from anyway?"
"Derek's alive mom." Scarlett told her, her voice barely above a whisper. "I went to see him after we got back last night and uh- um…" Scarlett couldn't help the tears from welling up in her eyes. "He's with someone else."
"No…" Melissa murmured, catching her daughter as she fell against her, crying her eyes out again. "Who is she?"
"My English teacher." Scarlett cried.
"A teacher?" Melissa was absolutely appalled by what she was hearing. "Listen, baby, he's not worth a single tear of yours. Not if he's just gonna move on to someone else as soon as you're through. He's just not good enough for you."
Scarlett tried to listen to what her mother was saying but she didn't really believe it. She straightened up and wiped her eyes. "You have to say that, you're my mom."
"I know." Melissa admitted. "But it's the truth." She said, putting her hands up. Scarlett frowned and Melissa felt bad. She opened her arms again. "Come here cariño." Melissa forgot all about the accident and the totalled car. Her main concern right now was comforting her daughter while she was still going through her first heartbreak. It had definitely been rougher than most, what with all the werewolves and thinking Derek had died and then finding out he was alive and seeing another woman. Melissa knew Scarlett was strong but even the strongest person couldn't go through all that without breaking down a few times. Melissa knew she certainly couldn't.
"You know what my mother always used to say to me when I was upset about something?" Melissa asked Scarlett with a smile. Scarlett shook her head. "She would say 'I demolish my bridges behind me…that way I have no choice but to move forward.' She got it from some book she read once but it's good advice and it's helped me through a lot."
"Did it help you with dad?" Scarlett asked.
Melissa sighed. "It's a little more difficult to demolish a bridge that your kids have to walk over to see their father. But do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I should forget about Derek and move on?"
"Exactly, sweetheart. Take the time to mourn the separation and then give yourself a clean slate. You're young, you have your whole life ahead of you to fall in love again. This isn't the last time that it will happen. Trust me, you will find someone else." Melissa assured her.
"Mom…I'm not sure if I want to." Scarlett admitted, making Melissa give her a sad smile.
"It's your choice, Scar. It's your life. Just, don't keep holding onto something when you know it's time to let it go."
A few days later, they were all back at school and everything seemed to be…normal. Well, as normal as it gets in Beacon Hills. Another person had been sacrificed and someone was also missing. Both of them were doctors so the group was going with the theory that the Darach was now after healers so the McCall twins, and Isaac, were keeping a close eye on Melissa. Or, at least, they had been until she forced them to go to school.
Scarlett was sitting in chemistry, across from Stiles and Scott when the last person on Earth that she wanted to see waltzed into their class.
"Good morning," Miss Blake announced with a smile that was far too chirpy for first thing in the morning. Scarlett rolled her eyes but tried not let Miss Blake's good attitude, which more than likely had something to do with Scarlett's ex-boyfriend, get to her. Scarlett looked over at Stiles and Scott. They were both glaring at Miss Blake. Scarlett had filled them in on what had happened, even explaining that Peter was the one who pulled her out of the wreck. However, she did leave out the part about him trying to kiss her. That wasn't something she wanted to remember nor did she want anyone to know about it. "As you all know your teacher Mr Harris is still missing, uh, I mean sick. Anyway, I'll be filling in while we all hope and pray for a more qualified substitute to take my place. Okay, let's get started, shall we?"
"So I heard my dad on the phone this morning, he said that the ER attending wasn't strangled but he still died from asphyxiation they just don't know how." Stiles whispered to Scott while Scarlett listened in.
"Do you think the on-call doctor could still be alive?" Scott asked.
"I don't know, but there's gotta be at least twenty other doctors in that hospital. At least twenty and any one of them could be next." Stiles stressed.
Before Scott could reply, his phone buzzed and he answered it, leaning under the table so he wasn't seen. "Hey, Doc, I'm in class right now. Can I call you back?"
Scarlett's brows furrowed as she watched Scott's face change from laid-back to concerned in an instant.
"Doc? Doc?" He asked, but the line was dead.
"What happened?" Scarlett asked.
"He was taken."
Scott left school right after class, heading straight for the animal clinic. Not being able to stop Scott from leaving, Stiles called his dad and explained that Deaton had been taken and that he should go to the clinic too.
"What are we gonna do?" Scarlett asked, gesturing to herself and Stiles.
"Go meet them." Stiles answered before grabbing her hand and dragging her out to his jeep. They hopped inside and drove to the animal clinic to find the Sheriff and Scott already there.
"We're gonna do everything we can." Sheriff Stilinski assured Scott. "But the best thing you three can do right now is head back to school."
Scott gestured towards the back room when the Sheriff walked away, signalling for Stiles and Scarlett to follow him. The three teens walked into the back room and Scott immediately started talking. "We need to tell him."
"What do you mean?" Stiles asked, confused. "You mean like, tell him, tell him?"
"You know what I mean." Scott said in all seriousness.
"Do you remember how your mom reacted? She didn't look you in the eye for like a week." Stiles reminded him.
"And she got over it." Scott countered.
"It also kinda brought all three of us closer together, too." Scarlett added in, backing up Scott. The Sheriff knowing what was really going on would be a big help to them. It would mean they had the police on their side and Sheriff Stilinski would be able to see the whole picture.
"I don't know, guys, I mean look at him. He's completely overwhelmed as it is."
"He's overwhelmed because he's got no clue what's happening." Scott tried to reason with Stiles.
"Scott's right. It would actually benefit us and your dad if he knew the truth. Things would make more sense to him." Scarlett told Stiles.
"He's gonna find out sooner or later." Scott stated the inevitable.
"Yeah but is now really the right time?" Stiles asked.
"What if not telling him now gets someone else killed?" Scott wondered.
"What if telling him gets him killed?" Stiles countered quickly. "Look, I get that Deaton's been like a father to you but Scott, this is my actual father. I can't lose both of my parents."
"It's your decision, Stiles." Scarlett said, putting her hand on his arm.
Stiles nodded after a few moments of contemplating his options. "I'll tell him."
"We'll help you." Scott backed him up. Together the trio walked out of the back room just as the Sheriff and his deputies were leaving after talking to Miss Morrell.
"The three of you need to listen." She said, walking up to them. "No sheriff, deputy or detective will be able to find him."
"You don't need to ask us for help." Scott explained to her.
"Actually, I'm trying to help you. Because if you're going to find my brother then you need to use the one person who might actually have an ability to seek out the supernatural." Morrell told them.
"Lydia." Scarlett sighed.
Stiles and Scarlett headed to Coach's office when they got back to school to look for Lydia. Scarlett knew that she and Aidan often snuck in there for make-out sessions. They went into the office from the locker rooms and when they did, they saw Derek's sister, Cora, gripping Lydia's arm.
"I said-" Lydia began but was almost immediately cut off by Scarlett who had grabbed onto Cora's arm, squeezing it as hard as she could.
"She said let go." Scarlett sneered at Cora.
Cora glared at Scarlett who was right next to her face. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I think I'm the girl telling you to let go of her best friend's wrist before I break yours." Scarlett growled. Cora rolled her eyes and dropped Lydia's wrist and in turn, Scarlett let go of hers.
"Okay, now that we've found you...let's go." Stiles said, leading the way out of Coach's office.
"Why aren't you leaving?" Scarlett asked Cora.
"I'm making sure she doesn't run back to Aidan." Cora said blankly. Scarlett rolled her eyes and followed Stiles to an empty chemistry classroom.
"Sit down." Stiles instructed the three girls while he went into his bag and pulled something out, placing it on the table they were all sitting at.
"A Ouija board? Really?" Lydia asked, incredulous.
"Yes. Also known as a spirit board and it's worth a shot." Stiles explained.
"Shot in the dark." Lydia sing-songed.
"Would you just try it please?" Stiles insisted.
"Why are we bothering with this anyway?" Cora asked.
"My brother's boss is missing. We think he may be the next sacrifice so we need to find him before he dies." Scarlett quickly explained.
"Yeah, the guy who has saved our collective asses on more than one occasion." Stiles reminded them. "So, let's do this."
"Okay so do we all do this?" Cora asked.
"Yeah." Stiles told her as they all placed the tips of their fingers on the planchette. "Where's Doctor Deaton?" They all waited in silence for some sort of answer or for the planchette to move to spell out a location…or for Lydia to maybe say a location but nothing happened. "Aren't you gonna answer it?"
"Oh, I don't know the answer." Lydia said nonchalantly. "I thought we were asking some spirit?"
"Do you know any spirits?" Cora asked.
Lydia pointed her finger at Cora. "Is she for real?"
"Okay, let's try something else. These are Deaton's keys to the animal clinic. Try and see if you can see a location when you touch them. It's called psychometry." Stiles explained.
"I'm not a psychic." Lydia countered.
"You're something!" Stiles shouted. "Okay? Lydia, just, put out your hand."
Lydia closed her eyes and opened her palm. Stiles carefully placed the keys in her hand and she shivered.
"What is it?" Scarlett asked.
"They're cold." Lydia told her plainly, making Scarlett roll her eyes.
"Lydia, concentrate please. We're trying to save lives here, for the love of God." Stiles murmured, clearly about to reach his maximum stress level. Lydia held the keys for a minute and looked like she was really trying to concentrate. "What do you see?"
"Nothing." Lydia told him, opening her eyes.
"Alright, how about…automatic writing?" Stiles suggested, holding a pencil in front of Lydia.
"Automatic writing?" She asked before taking the pencil with a sigh and beginning to draw a tree. The same tree that Scarlett always saw her drawing.
"Lydia what are you doing? What is that?" Stiles asked.
"A tree." Lydia shrugged.
Stiles looked at her wide eyed. "A tr- Lydia you're supposed to be writing words, like in sentences. Something like a location, something that would tell us where he is!"
"Well maybe you should have said that." Lydia replied, continuing to draw the tree.
"Isn't she supposed to be some sort of genius?" Cora asked sceptically.
"Genius? Yes." Lydia told her. "Psychic? No. Honestly I don't even know why you're bothering with me when it's obvious Danny's the one you should be talking to."
"What? Why Danny?" Scarlett asked, confused.
"Because Danny was a target last night but he wasn't a sacrifice." They all looked up at the sound of Scott's voice. He walked into the room holding his shoulder where it was clear he was bleeding.
"Isn't Danny still in the hospital?" Cora looked for confirmation as the group walked out of the classroom.
"Yeah, I'll meet you there." Scott said.
"Why?" Stiles asked. Scott stopped walking and turned around to show them a text from Allison saying she'd found something.
Scarlett informed the group that she would have to miss out on talking to Danny because she had after school practice.
Not much happened at the practice, they just went over a couple of routines. Scarlett was forced to break up a fight between two freshman girls who were arguing over some boy. She missed the days when boys were her biggest problem. Well, boys still were a big problem in her life. Really just one boy…she immediately stopped herself from thinking of Derek. She was taking her mother's advice and moving on. She wanted nothing more to do with Derek. He was out of her life for good this time.
Scarlett was putting her cheerleading bag in the boot of Melissa's car, which they had been forced into sharing due to Scarlett's car being wrecked, and when she closed it she didn't have time to react when the reflection behind her smashed her head off the window, rendering Scarlett unconscious.
Scarlett could vaguely feel herself being dragged by someone. She opened her eyes slowly. "Ugh, where am I?" She mumbled, rubbing her head where it had been smashed off of her car.
"Just shut up." She looked up and saw Aidan was the one who snapped at her and was currently dragging her through a building…Derek's building.
Scarlett started to struggle. "No, no! I can't be here!" She shouted at him, he just gripped her arm tighter, yanking her up from the floor, now that she could walk, and locking her hands behind her back with his vice-like grip.
"Try not to break her Aidan." Ethan said behind them. Scarlett turned, not noticing him before. He had Miss Blake in his grip and Scarlett groaned. This could not be good.
"Take her in first." Aidan growled at Ethan who glared as he walked by with a struggling Miss Blake. Her pleading eyes locked onto Scarlett's but Scarlett just looked away.
"And if that isn't a hard enough kick in the balls, wait til you see this." Scarlett heard Kali's voice speaking inside Derek's loft. The next thing she knew, Aidan was pushing her inside the loft and shoving her on her knees next to Miss Blake. Derek's eyes widened when he saw Scarlett and his blood boiled as he saw Aidan's hands on her. He didn't know why but it made him angrier that they had Scarlett more than Jennifer. Scarlett had always been his weak spot and he wasn't sure if she would ever stop being his weak spot. All he knew was that he couldn't let Scarlett get hurt. Upon seeing Derek's reaction, Kali's mouth turned up into a twisted smile. "I guess we know the chink in your armour now."
"Let me go." Scarlett demanded, refusing to let her voice shake even though she was terrified. "I have nothing to do with this. I have nothing to do with Derek anymore so there's no point in trying to use me as leverage. He doesn't care what happens to me." Derek felt a tugging in his chest when she said that. Of course he cared. He would never stop caring. "Ethan," Scarlett turned to the other twin who tried not to look at her. "Please, I helped save your life."
"Aidan." Kali growled. Aidan wrapped his hand around Scarlett's throat and began to squeeze, making her eyes go wide as she struggled to breathe, clawing at his hand.
Seeing Scarlett fighting to stay alive was the last straw for Derek. "I'm gonna rip your throat out. With my teeth." He bared his fangs and jumped at Kali.
"Aidan, you're killing her." Ethan warned, making Aidan loosen up on his grip.
Scarlett rubbed her throat and looked at Ethan. "Thank you." She whispered before turning her eyes to Miss Blake who looked terrified.
It all happened so fast, Scarlett didn't really understand it. One minute she was being held back by Aidan and the next he was gone and she was being tackled by Isaac.
She pushed Isaac off of her in time to see all the werewolves that were standing in the water that flooded the loft be shocked by volts of electricity. Her eyes widened, her instincts telling her to rush to Derek's side.
"Scarlett no!" Isaac shouted before she could move forward. He yanked her back again and cradled her to his chest, giving her no choice but to watch on in horror as the twins held both of Derek's clawed hands up while Kali lifted Boyd from the ground and dropped him on Derek's claws. Scarlett cringed and looked away, burying her face in Isaac's chest.
"I'm giving you to the next full moon Derek." Kali's voice boomed as she walked through the water. "Make the smart choice and join the pack or next time, I'm gonna kill all of you. Starting with her." Her head snapped towards Scarlett. Scarlett glared defiantly back at Kali as she walked past her, followed by the twins.
Scarlett was out of Isaac's grip in seconds when she saw Derek drop Boyd in the water, his hands still shaking. She ran to his side, damning her own hurt to hell, falling on her knees and taking his hand into her own, gently pulling him into her. She felt Derek shaking and it was as if she was feeling what he felt. The immense sadness that he felt for losing Boyd surged through her own body and it confused her but she didn't question it. She just wanted to be there for him.
A few minutes later, Stiles and Cora ran through the water. Cora went straight to Boyd's body while Stiles placed his hand on Derek's shoulder, showing him that he was there for him too.