Author's Note:
So this is a very 'Venator family' central chapter. I hope you guys aren't too bugged by all their scenes. There will be more Derek in the following chapter. After this chapter, Derek explains about Matt and about Peter's new resurrection. It's going to have interesting ramifications for our sibling pair, especially when learning information about the Kanima!
I'd like to give a big shout out and thank you to BelongsInAMuseum the writer of the amazing Stiles/OC fanfic 'Black Water' and it's sequel 'Blood In the Water' for giving me some advice on writing. Lets just say she's the the master of slow-burn's and she's passed some much appreciated tips onto me :) If you haven't read her stuff do it. RIGHT NOW. You won't regret it.
Also... I haven't had any reviews since chapter 19 and it kind of made me miserable. Do you guys like the story? If there anything I can work on or anything you'd like for me to add? Pipe up or I'll think you guys aren't reading.
Chapter Twenty-One: Puzzle Pieces
They sat back in the shadows, away from prying eyes. The car's headlights were off and the only light was the pulsating red and blue from the emergency vehicles. Brian held up his phone and taking photos of the whole situation. A creature of the supernatural had killed again.
They had been brought to this town to bring down the Kanima and it's master. They had almost narrowed down who the Master was and had already been told by the Argent's that the Kanima itself was a local student named Jackson Whittemore. There was some kind of correlation to the 2006 swim team, but the bodies that were being pieced back together in front of them didn't fit. One of the inside men in the police force had sent them updates on who the four victims were, none of which were on the swim team or even in the same grade. Whoever the Kanima was now killing, wasn't from that pattern. It simply didn't make sense. A Kanima's sole purpose was to get revenge. These four deaths had to tie in with something, they had to be missing a key piece of the puzzle.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg…" Andrea said as she wrote down her observations in a notepad.
"Well Beacon Hills didn't get its name by chance." Brian drawled. Andrea let out a low chuckle. She certainly needed a good laugh as of late.
"I miss it though." Andrea replied, "Living a relatively civilian life for the past several years has not done me the good I thought it would."
"Don't beat yourself up. I think everyone was a little off their game with this one, especially considering the extending circumstances." Brian spoke as his phone began to beep mid-investigation. He quickly stopped taking photos, and pulled it closer to get a better look at the screen. Caller I-D listed the late night call from none other than Chris Argent. He only ever called this late if it was serious business; there must be some development on the Kanima front. Andrea snatched it from his hands and pressed answer, holding it to her ear in frustration.
"What is it Argent? We're in the middle of an investigation." She snapped. Brian sat beside her trying to listen into the conversation, with no luck. There was a long silence as Chris spoke, then Andrea went to interrupt, but her face only dropped. The anger that had seconds ago covered her face disappeared and was replaced with one of devastation. For a moment she lingered, half wanting to continue what she was going to say and the other half wanting to drop the phone. Andrea's eyes glazed over with a familiar determination before she brought the phone closely to her ear.
"We'll be there in five minutes." She said coldly and hung up. Brian took the phone from her and put it in the cup holder as his wife gripped the car wheel firmly.
"What's going on?" Brian said in a calm and worried tone, placing his hand on his wife's thigh for comfort. She turned her head slightly and let her gaze meet his out of the corner of her eye.
"Victoria…" she paused, "Victoria's dead."
xxxx
Sam went first down the steps of the train depot. He was cautious about the state of the new wolves, who would know if those shackles had held. He trained his ears to listen out, but in this form he was merely human. He was about to call out Derek's name before he realized what a massive mistake that would be, had to wolves escaped. Although, if they had, they'd probably of already ravaged him. New wolves didn't exactly pride themselves with subtlety. It was all kill or be killed by the hunger inside.
Avery was still in the car, curled up on the back seat. She was playing with the floor rug mindlessly as she waited for the all clear from Sam. When Sam finally did return, he nearly scared the living daylights out of her. All grumpy and covered in shadows, he tapped at the window and she jumped to sit upright. A sharp pain coursed up her leg as she did. Sighing and opening the side door, Sam leant down to give her the verdict.
"The newbies are all locked up and docile, but I can't find Derek anywhere." Sam said, his breath turning to fog in the cold air.
"I'm sure he just casually went for a midnight stroll after a hard nights work." Avery said, albeit with far too much content.
"We'll be fine to crash inside." Sam stated, ignoring his sisters sarcastic jab.
"Good." Avery said, pulling herself to her feet, "I'm going in search of Derek's mandatory first aid kit."
"He has a mandatory first aid kit?" Sam questioned.
"Maybe…" Avery paused as Sam tried to hook his arm under her. She twitched and moved away from him, causing his expression to shift into something akin to hurt. Avery almost missed it, as it appeared as quickly as it disappeared. Sam then walked on ahead of her, leaving Avery to make her slow descent to her makeshift bedroom/ abandoned office.
She searched around for a little bit, hoping to get her hands on the first aid kit. Why did Derek have to hide it? You'd think that would be something that you'd obviously want to keep at arms length, easy to reach in case of emergency. Then again, Derek Hale was not what you would call a straight forward guy. He had a round about approach to everything; even it seemed where he put his personal belongings. Nevertheless, after tearing the place apart, she finally found it inside one of the old cupboards and pulled it out eagerly.
She slipped out of her pair of jeans, and sat on the floor. Looking down at her leg, it looked fine, except for the oversized bandage covering where the knife had dug in. Underneath the stitches had surely pulled apart, so she pulled back the plaster to get a closer look. Avery had expected it to be gross. She had expected blood and exposed guts, but she was not right. Instead her leg looked very wrong… but in a good way? Yes the stitches were broken, but the wound itself was remarkably better. Unnaturally better. The swelling had all but disappeared and while it was still painful, it appeared at that she had gotten the injury at least a week and a half back, which wasn't the case. She didn't exactly know what to do, she couldn't complain. It had to be Deaton's work, that mystical veterinarian must have put something wacky on it. That was the only possible explanation she could muster. She'd have to confront him about next time she saw him and attempt to get the guy to lend her his personal stash of what ever it was. It would totally come in handy.
While the stitches had come loose, she was lucky enough that the thread itself had not snapped so all she had to do was yank at the stitch at the top and it slowly pulled together again. Then she knotted the thread on itself and covered it with a fresh bandage.
Putting the strange healing from her mind, she laid down and decided to properly go to sleep. The floor was certainly not as comfy as Derek's leather car seats, but it would do. She chucked a blanket over herself and let her eyes close. She could hear Sam walking about, no doubt worried where Derek was. His pacing became almost rhythmic; a strange lullaby sending her to sleep.
xxxx
Andrea slammed the door to the car with as much strength as she could. Brian quickly made his way out behind her, rushing inside the entrance of Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. Neither of them bothered to lock the car behind them, that was the least of their worries. Andrea had this expression on her face that Brian had only seen a handful of times. It was a mixture of adrenaline filled anticipation and terror. Every time they stepped into a life or death scenario, afterwards always came the recoil. The counting of bodies and the burying of the dead. And for once, the collateral damage was too much to handle.
The moment she stepped into the hospital, and rushed up to the level where the Argent's were, it was like her eyes glazed over and she went into autopilot. Her legs moved quickly when the elevator doors opened, her eyes flitted around looking for Chris. When they finally found him he was standing in a tender embrace with his daughter, Alison. Then her eyes moved past them, to the room with the body covered in a white sheet. Her body rooted itself to the ground as she processed the silhouette underneath the sheets as her best friend. She could vaguely hear Brian beside, her asking if she was alright, but didn't have the strength to reply. He gently squeezed her hands in his own and then let go to speak with Chris.
Alison stepped away so that Brian could hold Chris in a comforting hug. Amidst all the heartbreak and tears there was another strange look on Andrea Venator's face. As reality came into focus, she found herself scowling. Chris had said that Victoria was bitten, over the phone, by none other that Derek Hale to get to Avery. Anger boiled inside of her, making her insides turn over themselves with fury. She wanted nothing better than to tear the good for nothing wolf limb from limb. She wanted to make him suffer. But perhaps even odder was the person who she truly blamed for this.
Her daughter. Her daughter was the root of all this trouble. Ever since she cowardly ran off with the creature taking Sam's identity everything had gone down hill. If she had only done what she was asked, and put her brother out of his misery instead of taking the selfish road, none of this would have happened. Derek Hale would have forgotten them, they never would have gone back to Beacon Hills. She didn't care that Hale may have tried to protect Avery. If her daughter was so weak then didn't she deserve to die? Wouldn't it just be karma catching up to her to make her pay for her mistakes? Andrea had to believe it, otherwise what sense did the universe make for taking Victoria? Why could it be fair that her best friend was torn from the world while her good for nothing children plagued it?
To put it simply, Andrea had snapped. She had literally broken into two pieces. She threw away the sentimentality and took on a calculating and killer mindset. She was going to take down Derek Hale. Then she would take down Sam and if Avery or anyone else dared to get in her way, she wouldn't hesitate to destroy them. Fuck the hunters code. This was war. No, even better, this was revenge.
"We need to go after Hale, now." Andrea strolled up towards the three, determination in her eyes.
"Derek Hale did this?" Alison's shaky voice managed out, deadpanning at the end.
"Gerard and the rest have already begun tracking him." Chris replied.
"Then we'll join the fight." Andrea nodded, taking her husband's hand again, "We end this fight, tonight."
Without another word she turned and made her way from the hospital, Brian in tow. Jumping back in the car she put on the grieving expression for him, she played the role of the distressed friend, but inside she was planning. She let Brian hug her and even let a few false tears run down her face. He would never approve of any of this and she didn't want to lose him too. Even when they had talked about killing Sam he had been reluctant, this would be his limit. He wouldn't need to know what she was going to do until the final moment.
And that was her promise… She wouldn't lose anyone else she cared about. If it killed her, she would keep that promise.