Chapter 5
Derek's dead...
That doesn't sound right. That doesn't feel real... nothing feels real. Derek was just here with me. I finally got him back in my life after six years...six whole years and it only took a few seconds for him to be gone. For him to fall-
bang
I squeeze my eyes shut as the sound replays in my head over and over.
Derek's dead
I never got a chance to tell him what he means to me. How thankful I am for him...what was the last thing I said? I can't even remember if I said goodbye...
"Nina?" Scott pats my shoulder. "You okay?" I lift my chin off the headrest and turn to look at him.
"I'm fine." I try to smile but I know it wasn't one.
"Anachronism." Stiles says looking at his tablet. He looks up and notices both me and Scott staring at him. "What?"
"What you guys doing?" I ask setting the back of my head against the bus window, keeping my legs bent to my chest.
"I'm helping Scott study for the PSATs." Stiles looks back to his tablet before returning his gaze to Scott sitting next to him. "The next word... Anachronism"
"Something that exists out of its normal time." Scott answers.
"Nice." Stiles scrolls on his tablet. "Okay, next word incongruous,"
"Um, can you use it in a sentence?" Scott scrunches his eyes up.
Is he still hurt?
"Yes, yes I can," Stiles says. "It's completely incongruous that we're sitting on a bus right now, on our way to some stupid cross country meet after what just happened. Incongruous."
"Out of place, ridiculous, absurd."
"Perfect," Stiles says, "Okay, next word. Umm, Darach." Scott whips his gaze to Stiles. "Darach, it's a noun."
"Really, Stiles." I roll my eyes. That's one way to do it at least.
"We have to talk about it sometime, okay?" He exclaims. "And we're gonna be stuck in this thing for like five hours. Why not?" Scott rests his head against the window, without saying anything. I tap the glass next to his face lightly.
"You okay?" I whisper scanning his face. "Are you still hurt?"
"Next word." Stiles says while clearing his throat. "Intransigent." Scott nods slightly at me before turning to look at Stiles.
"Stubborn, obstinate." Scott says, with scrunched eyes. The bus suddenly jerks forward causing me to knock the back of my head against the window. Scott groans in front of me clutching his side.
"Oh, buddy, you okay?" Stiles asks, looking over at Stiles. Scott scrunches up his face.
"He's obviously in a lot of pain, Stiles." I say rubbing my head.
"We shouldn't have come." Stiles says, raising a finger. "I knew it. We shouldn't have come."
"We had to." Scott opens his eyes. "There's safety in numbers."
"Yeah, well, there's also death in numbers, okay?" Stiles counters, scrolling through his tablet. "It's called a massacre or bloodbath, carnage, slaughter, butchery, wow, that's-" Scott groans again.
"Alright Scott, I'm telling coach that-" Stiles begins.
"No, no, no, no." Scott stops him. "I'm alright."
"Well, you don't look alright," Stiles glances at Scott's side. "Would you just let me see it?" Stiles try to lift up his shirt but is blocked.
"I'm okay," Scott assures
"Just let me see it, okay?"
"Okay." Scott glances at me briefly before turning to Stiles. I turn my gaze away as he lifts his shirt up.
"Oh, dude." Stiles exclaims, causing me to sneak a peak. There are three long, deep scratch marks on his abdomen right next to his sculpted ab-
I bring my gaze away quickly and look down at my fingers instead.
"I know it's bad, but it's because they're from an alpha. It'll take longer to heal."
"How come Boyd, N-Nina, are you okay?" Stiles puts a hand on my forehead. "Your cheeks are turning red."
"I'm fine, Stiles." I say quickly brushing his hand away. "What were you saying?" I rush out "How come Boyd..."
"Uh..." He turns his gaze back to Scott. "How come they're all fine and you aren't?" Scott just rests his head on the window without saying anything.
"I'm not that experienced with alpha scratches, but it should've healed already," I say exchanging glances with Stiles.
"I can't believe he's dead," Scott mutters. "I can't believe Derek's dead."
"Neither can I." I mumble resting the back of my head against the window again. My vision turns to Ethan sitting next to Danny. My eyes lock onto the back of his head as I feel my fingers start to ache. My phone beeps in my pocket. I take it out and see Cora's name pop up. My heart aches as I remember how broken she was yesterday.
Don't get you're hopes up but Derek might be alive-
Derek might be alive?
-Don't tell anyone. We're not sure. I'll let you know what we find out.
We? Who's we?
I put my phone back in my pocket and let out a breath. There's a chance Derek's alive. A chance...
A chance is better than nothing.
"Two of you, back in your seats." Coach yells, waking me up. "Jared, again, car sick?" Coach asks Jared. "Every ti- how do you even get on the bus? Look at me. No, don't look at me. Look at the horizon. Keep your eyes keep your eyes on the horizon. McCall!" Coach turns his attention to us. "Not you too?"
"No, coach I'm good," Scott says with a strained voice. I yawn and stretch out my arms, turning to face him.
"Hey, Scott you're bleeding again." Stiles says looking at Scott's side. Scott's moves his jacket and there's blood staining his shirt. "And don't tell me that it's just taking longer to heal, okay?" Stiles continues. "Because I'm pretty sure that still bleeding means not healing, like, at all."
"Scott, you really should have healed by now." I look at him with wide eyes. "Something's not right." I mutter to myself.
"He's listening." I follow Scott's gaze and see Ethan tilting his head towards us.
"Is he gonna do something?" Stiles asks.
"Cause if he is, then so am I." I glare at the back of his head.
"Don't." Scott shakes his head. "He won't do anything. Not in front of this many people."
"Okay, well, what about the two ticking time bombs sitting right near him?" Stiles motions to Isaac and Boyd. Boyd turns his head to the side and glares at Ethan.
"No, they won't." Scott assures. "Not here." Scott groans again and scrunches his eyes.
"Okay, well, what if they do?" Stiles asks. "Are you gonna stop 'em?"
"If I have to."
"I'll help you, okay." I speak up. "I'm angry and I want to rip them apart." I say louder, staring at Ethan causing him to scoff. "But I'll listen to you. That's what Derek would have wanted." My voice cracks. I turn away from him with my back against the window and check my phone again for the hundredth time.
Still nothing.
I let out a breath before closing my eyes and trying to get some sleep. A few minutes later I feel the bus jerk to a stop causing me to knock my head into the headrest.
"Can't a girl get some sleep around here?" I mutter rubbing my head for the second time today. Scott lets out a groan.
"You good?" I ask staring at his scrunched-up eyes. He nods before his eyes catch onto something behind me. He suddenly gets up out of his seat. I follow his gaze and see Boyd breathing heavily by the front.
"What? What, Scott?" Stiles asks.
"Boyd, he's going to do something," Scott stares at him.
"Okay, what? How do you know?"Stiles asks looking between Boyd and Scott.
"Look at his hands," Scott replies. I do as he says and sure enough, Boyd has his claws out. Scott goes to leave, but I grab his arm.
"I can talk to him if you want?" I offer, glancing at his side. "You need to rest."
"I'll be okay." He tries to smile before walking up to the front and next to Boyd. I let out a huff of air before turning to Stiles.
"Got a word for stubborn." I grumble looking at Scott's back.
"Well, that's Scott for you." Stiles quirks his head. My phone beeps and I quickly pull it out of my pocket.
"Nothing." I sigh putting it away.
"What's up?" Stiles questions.
"With what?" I furrow my brows.
"You. You've checked your phone about a hundred times today."
"Look Stiles." I turn around to see Scott still talking to Boyd and Isaac. "There's a chance that Derek's still alive." I whisper. Stiles does a spastic movement but I lightly flick his forehead. "Shh... don't tell anyone, especially Scott. Cora said that she doesn't know for sure but there's a chance he might be. A small chance."
"Why can't we tell Scott?" Stiles whispers back. I look over in Scott's and Ethan's direction but both are still in conversation.
"We can't get his hopes up. I have a feeling that the reason he's not healing might be linked to Derek... you should've seen him." I think back to his broken puppy eyes after Derek fell. I shake my head. "And you said they were really close. Like brothers."
"But then why did you heal? Derek's your actual brother" I sit further back in my seat.
"I've lost almost all my family." I turn to look at Scott's back again. "Scott hasn't. Losing someone is never easy, it takes a toll on you. Mentally and physically." Scott turns around and begins to walk back. "Don't say anything." I whisper to Stiles before sitting straight in my seat.
"Crisis averted?" Stiles asks, glancing at me, while Scott gets past him.
"Mm-hmm."
"Okay good, cause we got another problem." Stiles says looking at Ethan and Danny. "Ethan keeps checking his phone, like every 5 minutes. It's like he's waiting for something, you know, like a message or a signal of some kind." I turn my glance to Ethan.
Maybe he's sitting there waiting for a message like I am. Waiting to hear if it's his loved one...or mine.
"I don't know, something evil though, I can tell." Stiles continues. "I have a very perceptive eye for evil, but you know that."
"I don't like him sitting there with Danny." Scott says.
"Yeah, neither do I. I'm gonna see what he's waiting for." Stiles pulls out his phone.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna ask." He says.
This is not going to go well.
Stiles types frantically and then presses one last button before looking over in Danny's direction. Danny's phone beeps and he checks it before turning around to look in our direction. Stiles smiles while lifting up his phone and pointing to Danny. He squints his eyes while mouthing 'no'. Stiles looks offended as Danny returns his gaze to the front.
"Better luck, next time." I laugh putting my head back. But Stiles keeps typing on his phone causing Danny to turn around and shake his head. This happens a few more times until Danny finally puts his phone away causing Stiles to make more spastic movements.
He does that a lot...
Stiles then starts aggressively typing on his phone, causing Danny's phone to repeatedly beep.
"You're going to drive that poor kid crazy, Stiles." I sigh looking at his facial expression. Stiles ignores me before eventually putting his phone away and leaning forward in his seat. Scott follows him and does the same thing. "Now I'm curious." I mutter moving forward in my seat to get a better view. Ethan and Danny's heads suddenly turn around. I duck down as fast as I can but accidentally knock my head on the window...again.
"You know what they say... Three times lucky." I mutter rubbing my head.
"Well, that wasn't very subtle." Stiles whispers. I slowly lift my head back up as Stiles' phone chimes.
"Ennis," Scott says.
"What does it say." I ask trying to peek my head over the headrest. Stiles glances at me before turning the phone around.
Someone close to him is sick and might not make it through the night.
My heart drops. So it was Ennis who made it out alive...not Derek. I put my head back against the glass.
So much for not getting your hopes up...
"Okay, so does that mean, uh..." Stiles looks at me for a few moments before turning to Scott.
"He's not dead." Scott finishes.
"Not yet." Stiles looks over to Ethan.
bang
I squeeze my eyes shut as the sound of Derek falling replays again in my mind.
Derek's actually dead...
"Jared, I'm warning you." Coach says. "I'm an empathetic vomiter. You throw up, I'm gonna throw up right back on you and it will be profoundly disgusting" I scrunch my nose up.
I don't even want to envision that.
"Please don't talk about throwing up," Jared says. "It's not good."
"I might throw up on you just to make a point, Jared," Coach says.
please don't.
"It's not good." Jared repeats. "It's not good."
"Now the rest of you, don't think we're gonna miss this meet because of a slight traffic jam, a minor tornado warning," His gaze turns hard. "Jared." He turns back to the rest of the bus. "We're gonna make this thing. Nothing is gonna stop us! Stilinski put your hand down."
"You know, there's, like, a food exit about a half a mile up." Stiles says ignoring Coach. "I don't know if we stop and then maybe traffic..."
"We're not gonna stop." Coach interrupts him.
"Okay, but if we stop..." Stiles puts his hand out.
"Stilinski!" Coach blows his whistle. "Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!" Coach yells while making big arm movements. Stiles covers his mouth with his hand in annoyance.
"I hate him," he mumbles staring at Coach's back before turning to face Scott. "Did you call Deaton?"
"I keep getting his voice mail." Scott says with a sign.
"That's it." Stiles says determinedly while pulling out his phone. "I'm calling Lydia and Allison."
"Who's Lydia?" I ask with furrowed brows.
"They're our friends... have you seriously not met Lydia? She's like the most popular person at school." Stiles squints his eyes.
"Really?" I ask leaning forward. "Then how do you know her?" He closes his lips tightly.
"Sourwolf." He mutters looking back down at his phone.
"How are they going to help, they're back in Beacon Hills?" Scott leans against the window.
"They're not." Stiles says. "They've been following us for hours." He looks behind him at the row of cars stopped in traffic. "Pathetic."
"Hey, Stiles." A perky voice answers. "Yeah, we're just about to walk into a movie you know the popcorn and-"
"I know you guys are right behind us." Stiles deadpans into the phone. "Put me on speaker."
"Uh, okay."
"Okay, look, Scott's still hurt."
"What do you mean still? He's not healing?" Another voice asks...Allison?
"No, he's not healing." Stiles says glancing back at Scott. "I think he's actually getting worse. His blood's turning like a black color."
"What's wrong with him?" Lydia asks.
"What's wrong with him? I don't... do I have a Ph.D. in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know that?" Stiles says as I roll my eyes.
"We need to get him off the bus." Allison says determinedly.
"And take him where? A hospital?"
"If he's dying, yeah." There's a moment of silence. "Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell coach to pull over."
"Yeah, I've been trying." Stiles says, with his hand on his temple.
"Well, reason with him."
"Reason?" Stiles' voice rises. "Have you met this guy?"
"Just try something."
Stiles hangs up and stares at Coach ahead of us.
"Good luck to you sir." I smile before resting my head against the glass. He opens his mouth like a goldfish before turning and walking up to Coach.
"Coach, it's five minutes for a bathroom break, okay? We've been on this thing for, like, three hours..."
Coach blows his whistle.
"It's 60 miles to the next rest stop..."
Coach blows the whistle again.
"Being cooped up for hours is not good for our..."
Whistle
"You know, our bladders aren't exactly..."
Whistle
"Coach, this is..."
Whistle
"Can you..."
Whistle
"Please..."
Whistle
"Let me talk!" Stiles exclaims. "I'm..."
Whistle
"Every time..." Stiles barely fits in.
Coach blows the whistle longer this time.
"Get back to your seat, Stilinski!" Coach yells.
"Okay!" Stiles yells before turning around. I give him a little thumbs up which he did not appreciate.
"Jared, keep your eyes on the horizon." Coach says causing Stiles to freeze. His eyes light up and he turns around to face Jared.
"Oh no, don't you dare." I mutter as Stiles moves to sit next to Jared.
"Hey, Jared. How you doing?"
"He's going to get us all killed." I slap my hand against my forehead.
"Jared, you suck!" Coach yells out the window with an aerosol can in his hand. "Hey somebody grab some towels or a mop... or a new bus."
"You couldn't have thought of a better idea?" I question as we walk out of the bus.
"It worked didn't it?"
"At what cost." I mutter as we help Scott walk. Stiles then points over to two girls. One has medium-length dark hair and the other has long red hair. "Who's the girl with dark hair?"
"Allison."
"And the one with red hair is Lydia?"
"It's strawberry blonde actually." He mutters.
"This way." Allison says as we follow her to the rest stop's bathroom. Stiles and I drop Scott down by the bathroom sink. I step back as Allison bends down next to him and lifts his shirt up. The wound has indeed started to produce black blood.
"Oh my god," Allison gasps. "Why didn't you guys tell us?"
"Sorry," Scott says softly, staring into her eyes.
"Okay. Just give us a second, okay?" Allison says as she gets up and turns to us in the corner of the room. "This shouldn't be happening."
"No kidding." I mutter, running a hand through my hair.
"I'm sorry but who are you?" Lydia turns to look at me.
"Nina Hale. Nice to meet you." I smile tightly. Lydia's eyes widen slightly as she turns to Allison who looks at me for a few moments.
"Okay, what do we do then? Do we just call an ambulance?" Stiles brings us back to reality.
"What if...what if it's too late? What if they can't help?"
"The thing is Scott should be able to heal on his own. Werewolves don't need the hospital." I speak up.
"He's not healing. Why's he not healing?" Allison looks over at Scott.
"You know, it could be psychological." Lydia brings up. Stiles clicks his finger.
"That's what you were saying, right?" Stiles turns to me. "Because of Derek?"
"Yeah, I know all too well that death takes a big toll on you. Mentally and physically." I say. Allison looks down at her feet.
"Somataformic." Lydia says. Stiles tries to pronounce it but gets nowhere. "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause." Stiles does another spastic movement. Lydia sighs. "Yes, it's all in his head."
"Would losing Derek be enough for that to happen?" Allison wonders.
"Definitely." Lydia turns to face me. "As Nina said, death takes a toll on you mentally and physically."
"He's not letting himself heal because Derek died." Stiles realizes.
"So what do we do?" Allison asks looking around at us. Lydia digs in her handbag before pulling out a sewing kit and lighter.
I'm not even going to ask why she has those...
"Stitch him up." Lydia says. Allison lets out a breath. "I'm serious. Maybe all he needs to do is just believe that it's healing." I nod my head in agreement.
"That could work." I mutter turning my gaze over to Scott.
We begin getting the room ready for the 'surgery'. Allison takes Scott's shirt off and tosses it to the side. I try to keep my gaze away, but my eyes keep peeking as I work. He has a tattoo on his arm of two bands...
I wonder what they mean?
"He's gonna need another shirt." Allison says disinfecting a needle with a lighter. "Where's his bag?"
"Um, I'm going to get it." Stiles looks over at the needle in Allison's hand. "I hate needles anyway, so-"
"Why am I not surprised?" I mutter to myself.
"Uh, do you know what you're doing?" Stiles looks to Allison.
"Yeah, my father taught me." She glances over at me for a second before beginning to thread the needle.
"I mean, how fast are you gonna." Stiles looks from her to the door. "I mean the bus, like the bus could leave."
"Well, you just make sure it doesn't leave."
"We can help." Lydia says motioning for me to follow as she grabs Stiles' arm. "Come on." I give one last look to Scott before following after them.
"What's the plan?" I ask as we reach the bus.
"Just wait here and hope it doesn't leave." Lydia sighs as she watches Coach stalking by the entrance. Lydia then turns to face me. "You have a sister, don't you? Nora? Clara?"
"Cora." I correct her. "She's my twin."
"Ah, another set of twins." Lydia's eyes glance around the area. "Aren't twins supposed to be rare? How come we have two sets in one year?"
"We're fraternal, not identical like Ethan and Aiden. It's less rare."
A whistle being blown brings us out of our conversation. I turn my head to see Coach standing in the bus' entrance with a whistle around his neck.
"Let's go!" He yells. "Back on the bus!" I exchange glances with Stiles and Lydia as we stare at Coach.
"So... new plan?" I offer. Lydia looks around frantically before turning to face me.
"Let Allison know the bus is leaving soon and she needs to hurry." I quickly turn around and briskly walk to the bathroom. I let out a breath as I see Allison supporting Scott to the entrance.
"Oh, thank goodness." I mutter grabbing into Scott's other arm. I help her support Scott to the bathroom entrance.
"Is he okay? Are you okay?" Lydia runs up to us with wide eyes.
"Yeah," Scott nods. "Stiles? Where's Stiles?" Scott asks.
"Trying to stall coach." Lydia grabs Scott's bag.
"What did he do now?" I ask darting my eyes out for the spastic man.
"We still don't have gas." Lydia turns to Allison.
"I'm not leaving them."
"Then we have to leave the car."
"Sounds good." Allison keeps walking ahead as Lydia stops.
"What? That wasn't an actual suggestion." Lydia exclaims. "Allison wait... ah, screw it," She mumbles catching up to us. I keep darting my eyes forward until I hear screaming. I let go of Scott's arm and dash forward.
"Isaac?" I move to the front, next to Boyd, to watch Isaac beat up Ethan who looks to be indifferent to the whole thing. I can't help the small smile that appears on my lips seeing the blood on Ethan's face.
"Isaac! Isaac!" Coach begins yelling trying to hold Isaac back. But he just pushes Coach away and continues his pursuit against Ethan. "Isaac! Back off! Stop!"
"ISAAC!" Scott yells, taking a step forward. Isaac immediately freezes and turns his gaze to Scott. He stares at him for a moment without saying anything. Everything is quiet as no one dares to make a sound.
"Let's go over this one more time." Stiles says to Lydia. I sit once again in my same spot with the back of my head rested against the window. "So it's the sacrifices, right? Everything has to do with them and someone who thinks, he's like a dark druid of some kind."
"Or actually is a dark druid." Lydia says from next to him.
"Darach." I say out loud. They both slowly turn their heads to the back to look at me. I glance between their eyes. "Sorry... werewolf hearing."
"You know, some ancient cultures sacrificed people in preparation for battle." Lydia says turning back to Stiles.
"So we got Alpha werewolves against a dark druid."
"Yeah,"
That's one to put it. I bring my legs to my chest and let my mind drift...
Look, if you don't wanna talk about it now I understand. But just know that when you're ready, I'm always here.
I squeeze my eyes shut as Derek's words ring in my head. I never got to tell him what actually happened. Never got to hear what he's been up to while I was away...
I take my phone out of my pocket and quickly scroll through Cora's contact...nothing.
"You know, if he's really dead, it's not your fault." Allison says to Scott next to her.
"Maybe." Scott looks down at his feet. He glances at Allison's eyes for a moment. "But remember that whole thing we talked about-" I stop listening. I don't like to invade people's personal conversations.
"-Just looking at your eyes." I pick up Allison's words. I open my eyes to see her staring into Scott's with a smile playing on her lips.
Is Allison really just a friend?
Season 3A
Episode 5 (Frayed)
Part 2/2
State: edited
Hey guys! :D
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think!
Stay safe and healthy! â¤
Until next time my fellow wolfies!! :D
-Nicole ^.^