SYMMETRY ➽ D. HALE [1]

30 ; deceit

30 ➽ DECEIT

Elise McCall's pace quickened as she walked briskly through the halls. She'd concocted a plan with Scott after they'd escaped the holding area- and with it, the frightened eyes of their mother. They were to split up and look for Jackson, Matt, or Derek. If Elise was being honest, she was hoping she'd run into the latter of the three, seeing as Derek was the least likely to tear out her jugular.

The image of a familiar figure leaning against a wall at the end of the corridor caught Elise's attention, and she increased her pace as she approached him. "Derek-" Elise began to call his name but barely a sound had left her mouth before Derek had turned around, silencing her with a finger to his lips. She fell silent, raising her brows quizzically. The reason for their silence was unknown to the brunette until a voice sounded from around the corner.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this!" Scott exclaimed.

"Trust me," a raspy voice responded. It took a moment for Elise to place, but she soon identified it as Gerard Argent, Allison's grandfather. She couldn't understand why was Scott talking to Gerard, of all people. Elise knew that Derek was thinking the same thing, as his shoulders tensed when the old man spoke again. "I'm well aware of that."

"I've done everything that you've asked," Scott said. "I became a part of Derek's pack, I've given you all of the information that you've wanted."Elise's eyes flickered toward Derek's face, finding that his eyes and narrowed and his lips had parted in disbelief. She wanted to say something, but she knew that their position would be revealed if she did. "I even told you that Matt was controlling Jackson and that-"

"Leave him to us," Gerard said, his voice eerily calm. "Help your friends and leave Matt and Jackson to me. Deal with your mother." There was a moment of silence before Gerard spoke again with force. "Go!"

Elise heard the sound of footsteps rushing in the direction of the holding area and Elise presumed that her brother had listened. The sound of Gerard turning as he began to walk in the direction of the wall they were hidden behind snapped Elise out of her surprised stupor. She pulled Derek into the nearest room, carefully closing the door behind them.

Gerard's footsteps halted outside of the room momentarily, and from inside, Elise could see his shadow cast against the glass window of the door as he lifted a container and plucked something out of it before tossing whatever the contents was- presumably a sort of pill- into his mouth. The brunette only felt safe to breathe once the old man had left and his footfalls had become inaudible.

She sighed, turning to find that Derek's eyes had lost their shocked expression and had instead become filled with rage. "Derek, I-" Elise began, but Derek pushed past her, throwing open the door of the small office. He moved to leave, but the brunette stepped into his way, blocking the exit by placing her arms on either side of the doorway. "Derek, please, just-"

"Did you know?" Derek asked. He aimed his eyes forward, refusing to look directly at her.

"Know what?"

At that, he turned to face the brunette, his lips twitching downward into a frown. Elise could see that Scott's betrayal had hurt him, despite the stoic exterior he was displaying. "Did you know that Scott was with the Argents?"

Elise's eyes searched Derek's face as she shook her head. "No, I didn't. But I think we need to talk to Scott before we assume anything."

"Assume?" Derek scoffed. "Elise, I'm not assuming anything! You heard exactly what I did. Scott only joined my pack to betray me for the hunters."

Elise shook her head defiantly, her voice cracking slightly with disbelief. "No, Derek there has to be something we don't know. Maybe he has a plan he isn't telling us. Trust me, okay? My brother would never-"

"You want me to trust you?" Derek asked, his eyes narrowing. "I trusted Scott and look where that got me! There's a reason I don't let people in, Elise."

With that, Elise let her arms slip from where they were barring the exit. Her eyes fell to the ground as Derek walked past her, leaving her alone in the office. Her eyes skimmed the room as she desperately struggled to think of something she could tell Derek to him to make him stay. If she'd have turned around, she would've seen Derek stop and look over his shoulder at her, hoping the same thing as her.

➽

"So, have you talked to your mom since last night?" Jenessa asked as she leaned against the tree stump next to her friend. Elise was meant to be in grief counseling with Ms. Morell, but that was quite honestly the last place she wanted to be. Matt's body had been found in a river the previous night after he'd ran from the police station. Elise found it slightly odd that no one aside from the select few that were at the station that night- aside from Jenessa, of course- knew what had really happened before his death.

"No. She's pretty much ignoring the fact that Scott's a werewolf and I'm... well, whatever it is that I am."

"You need to talk to her, Elise," Jenessa said, her voice gentle. "Listen, I've tried to do research on what it is that's happening to you, but every time I find something that might make sense, something comes along that rules it out entirely. I think your only option left is to find out who your biological parents are."

"I guess."

➽

Yikes. This chapter sucked. And guys you have no idea how horrible I feel for not updating. I promised I wouldn't give up on this story and I won't. Basically, what happened is that when I was really busy a few weeks ago, I was 100% motivated to work on this story, so I worked on it a bit every day and this was the result. This chapter's just been sitting here for a couple of waiting for me to finish it because it's totally incomplete and trash. Anyway, LMAO end of the season is coming up and I'm excited tbh like now I have motivation?
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