Chapter 6

By the time Scarlet and Stiles got to the party it was already in full swing. Scarlet grabbed a drink off one of the trays that was being passed around and scanned the crowd. "I'm going to go mingle, see who is here, I'll text you if I see Scott," Scarlet told Stiles.

"I'll text you too," he said before disappearing into the crowd.

Scarlet made her way to the backyard where people were dancing. She continued to scan the crowd until she noticed that Scott was already there with Allison. He was staring at someone though. She glanced over and saw Derek off to the side.

Scarlet texted her brother to let him know where Scott was then made her way over to Derek. "Fancy seeing you here, you're a little old for a high school party aren't you," Scarlet asked.

Derek kissed her on the cheek as he glanced over her shoulder. "I figured you would be here so I thought I would crash," he said softly. "You look... does damn qualify as a compliment?"

Scarlet laughed and rolled her eyes. "Thanks, and yes I think it does. You don't look half bad yourself. Why are you hiding out by yourself over here?"

"People watching," Derek explained. She turned and noticed that Scott was watching them intently. "What is your friend staring at?"

"Who knows, he's been kind of weird lately."

"How so," Derek asked.

"Oh I don't know, weird dreams, uh sleep walking, moody, he and my brother got into an argument earlier and they never fight," she explained.

"Was he one of the guys in the woods with you that night?"

"Yeah, he was the one with me before I got lost and you had to get me out of that mess."

Derek simply nodded as he continued to watch Scott. He and Scarlet continued to talk until she noticed Derek stiffen suddenly.

"You ok," Scarlet asked.

"I think something is wrong with your friend," he said pointing over to Scott.

She turned and glanced at Scott who was moving away from Allison. She pulled out her phone and texted Stiles to let him know something was up. "I'll go ask Allison if everything is ok," she said quickly.

Scarlet pushed her way through the crowd, joining Allison. "Hey is he ok," she asked.

"I don't know, we should check on him," Allison said before grabbing her wrist and pulling her out to the front of the house. Scott was driving away by the time they got out front.

"Allison," a voice said from behind them. They both turned to find Derek standing behind them. "I'm a friend of Scott's. My name's Derek, he asked me to give you a ride home."

"Oh, ok, thank you," Allison said as she moved toward Derek.

"I'll come too," Scarlet said quickly. She knew that Derek and Scott didn't know one another and she had a feeling something weird was going on.

...

They dropped Allison off and Scarlet noticed after she had gotten in the house that she had forgotten her jacket. "I'll just give it to her at school on Monday," Scarlet said softly. She didn't notice where Derek was driving until he passed her street. "Uh, Derek, I live back there."

"You need to see something," he said as he kept driving. "Your friend Scott is in danger."

"What do you mean in danger," Scarlet demanded.

"I need you to trust me, I won't let anything happen to you," he assured her.

"Derek what is going on?"

Derek parked his car and grabbed Allison's jacket out of her hands. He climbed out of the vechicle and Scarlet had no choice but to follow him into the woods. Scarlet stumbled along the way trying to keep up with Derek. He paused next to a branch and hung the jacket on it.

"Will you please tell me what you are doing," Scarlet asked when she caught up with him.

"I need you to go, way over there," he said as he pointed off to his right.

"Why? What is going on," Scarlet demanded.

"Just do it, you'll understand soon I promise," Derek replied.

Scarlet stood there for another moment before heading in the direction that he had pointed. She froze when she heard someone coming through the woods. She immediately ducked down behind some bushes, hoping she was hidden.

Scott appeared in the clearing she had just left. He said something and after a moment Derek appeared and tackled him. The two of them were rolling across the ground toward Scarlet's hiding spot. Derek pinned Scott to a tree and began to talking to him, but Scarlet couldn't make out the words.

Derek suddenly pulled Scott to his feet and began running away. Scarlet sat paralyzed as something flew threw the air and hit a tree, creating a bright flash. A second later Scott let out a scream of pain. Three men appeared with weapons on the opposite side of the clearing from Scarlet.

As scared as she was, she knew she had to help Scott. She rose to her feet just as one of the men went flying through the air. The other got tossed and she rushed forward to help Scott. Derek beat her there though and yanked the arrow out of his arm. Derek grabbed her arm and pulled her behind them as they took off running.

Scarlet felt like they had run forever before she said anything. "Stop, I think we lost them," she said as she doubled over and attempted to catch her breath. "What the fuck is going on Derek?"

"Scarlet, what are you doing here," Scott demanded. "Who were they?"

"Hunters, the kind who have been hunting us for centuries," Derek replied.

"Us, you mean you! You did this to me," Scott shouted.

"Did what," Scarlet demanded.

"Is it really so bad Scott? That you can see better, hear more clearly, move faster than any human could ever hope, you've been given something that most people would kill for. The bite is a gift," Derek shot back.

"The what? And human, Scott is human," Scarlet cried.

"I don't want it," Scott gritted out.

"You will, and you are going to need me if you want to learn how to control it. So you and me Scott, we're brothers now," Derek said as he leaned forward and put his hand on Scott's shoulder.

Scott slid down to the ground as Derek moved away from him. "Come on Scarlet, I'll take you home now," Derek said.

"I'm not going anywhere with you until you explain this to me," Scarlet cried.

Derek turned and looked at her. He cocked his head to the side as he stared back at her. "You already know what is going on, you knew at the party that there was something happening to Scott, I don't have to explain it to you Scarlet, you know."

"Are you... did you do this to him? Are you like him," Scarlet asked.

"I am," Derek said with a nod.

Scarlet drew in a ragged breath and glanced between Scott and Derek. "I can't... I have to," she mumbled as she turned and fled into the woods.

"We have to stop her she'll get hurt by herself," Scott said as he struggled to stand back up.

"She'll be fine, the hunters are gone. She needs time to accept this," Derek explained. "She won't be able to stay away."

"Why," Scott asked as he stared after Scarlet.

"I'll explain it to you later, you should get home, you'll be fine now," Derek told him. Scott turned to say something to him but he had already disappeared.

...

Scarlet ran blindly through the woods, not caring where she was going. It wasn't until she got to the parking lot of the preserve that she stopped running. She realized that her purse was still in Derek's car, which was gone now. She let out a sigh of frustration, jumping when she heard a twig break behind her.

Scarlet dug her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her numbers until she found her brother. He didn't pick up his phone though. "Stiles, I need you to come get me please," she pleaded. She kept walking until she reached the main road. After ten minutes her brother still hadn't called her back so she called someone else. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, you left pretty quickly tonight," Jackson said.

"Can you come and get me? I'm on the road that lead's to the preserve, no questions asked please?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few minutes. Are you ok," Jackson asked. Under any other circumstances she would have been touched by his concern, but right now she just wanted to get out of the woods.

"Not really," Scarlet said as she tried to reign in her emotions.

"I'll be there soon," Jackson said before hanging up the phone. Scarlet sat down on the side of the road and pulled her jacket tighter around her body. She couldn't help but feel like someone was watching her.

True to his word, ten minutes later, Jackson's car rolled to a stop next to her. He climbed out and immediately knelt in front of her. "Are you ok? What happened," he asked as he pulled some leaves out of her hair.

"I don't want to talk about it, can I stay at your house tonight," she whispered.

"Yeah, of course, are you sure you are ok? You don't need to go to the hospital or anything?"

"I just want to get out of here," she said as Jackson helped her to her feet. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her over to the passengar side of his car. He pulled the door open for her and made sure she was in, before shutting it. His eyes scanned the woods as he circled around the car and climbed in.