Heartbeat // A Derek Hale Love Story (Teen Wolf)

Torn in Half

A/N: This chapter is pretty spooky with some gore and stuff, just be warned. It's no worse than an average Teen Wolf episode, though. 

- TAAF_

Lillian's POV

I woke up hoping that Derek had texted me back, and despite it going against how I usually started my morning, rolling over to check my phone was the first thing I did.

Nothing.

I gritted my teeth at the list of notifications that lacked Derek's name, and let the device drop on the poofy covers. Hudson's tail swished on the bed next to me as I shook away my grogginess. He wiggled closer to me as I stretched, sticking his wet nose in my face.

"Do you need to go out?" I smirked, scratching his soft head. I sat up and swung my legs to the floor, and Hudson yipped expectantly as he bounced off the bed and parked in front of the door. I opened the door which released him to the stairs, bounding down them until I heard his little paws hit the stones of the barn and scamper out into a paddock. I moved to the far end of the loft that looked out on the green fields and grinned as his paws tore up the grass. His energy was inspiring.

Putting the kettle on for a cup of tea was the first thing I used to do when I got out of bed, but since I got Hudson, his needs took precedence.

Once I made my steaming cup and got dressed, I ventured downstairs to the grain room in the barn to mix the horses' breakfast grain. There was something oddly calming about blending the grains and the vitamins that helped take my mind off my absentee boyfriend. There was a soothing rhythm to the task.

I fought the urge to check my phone again once I fed all the horses. I glanced at my watch instead for the time, not giving Derek the satisfaction of bothering me because he was ignoring me. I had better things to do anyway; I had to be at work in an hour.

*

I knew Alan wouldn't mind that I brought my second cup of tea with me to work. We didn't have any procedures scheduled until after lunch; we were doing exams until then.

Throughout the day, not even the cuteness of the fuzzy animals I got to play with could take my mind off Derek. It proved to be exceptionally annoying.

Scott made nice conversation when he came in for his shift, gushing to me about how excited he was about the new semester starting tomorrow. He was planning to make first line on the school's lacrosse team, and I told him I'd come to a game.

Closer to the end of the day, once the sun had begun its descent in the sky, I cracked and opened my messages, thumbs hovering over the keyboard under my earlier conversations with Derek. The last text from last night:

To Derek: What happened?

I'd had enough of being ignored. Double-texting be damned.

To Derek: I don't care that you had to leave last night, could you just pick up the phone and tell me why?

Then I set the device back down and got to work closing up the clinic. Alan had been called away to birth a calf, so I was left alone which wasn't unusual. Scott had a solo shift the next night. If the clinic could be trusted in the hands of a teenager, so could it be in mine.

After making sure all the animals would be okay until the morning, I locked the front door before heading out the back into the dark parking lot. My truck lights flashed as I got in the driver's seat, and I pulled out my phone again, just in case Derek had texted back.

From Derek: I wasn't feeling well.

I narrowed my eyes, muttering "Yeah, right," even as relief flooded me that he answered in the first place.

To Derek: Are you okay?

I waited a few moments for him to respond before starting the truck, watching the little typing bubble.

From Derek: I'm fine.

I nearly growled aloud, turning the keys more aggressively than necessary, smelling the bullshit from all the way over here.

Something happened, and I wasn't about to wait around for him to tell me. So I adjusted my route to accommodate a stop at his house and pulled out onto the road.

*

The driveway to his house was gated shut, and at the sight, I let out an annoyed groan.

"Seriously?' I said under my breath, pulling up to park at the side of the road and hopping out of the truck.

If he'd been there, I would've said merely locking the gate was a piss-poor attempt to get rid of me. The "No Trespassing" sign did little to spook me into submission. But I my concern grew as I climbed the fence that Derek lovingly replaced so that no one could ever be hurt by them again.

Why was he being so evasive? Why was the gate locked? I'd never seen it shut, let alone secured with chains.

I squinted in the darkness, moving toward the gravel driveway as I pulled out my phone at flicked on the flashlight. I'd left my good flashlight in my truck.

Twigs cracked underfoot as I kept walking until suddenly my foot caught on something. I didn't have time to think before I was thrown forward into the leaves with a thud.

"Shoot," I muttered, twisting around in the fallen foliage to examine what I tripped on. This was the second time I'd tripped on Derek's proper--

A person. I'd tripped over a person.

My scream tore through my throat before the next thought registered in my mind.

Dead. A dead person. That person was dead.

My breath got stuck in my throat and wouldn't budge, yet my shoulders kept moving like I was breathing.

She was dead. And not only dead but torn in half. 

I couldn't move. My blood was ice. I barely felt the tears that slid down my skin and off my open lips. I was sure I wasn't breathing.

Help. I needed to get help. But I couldn't move to get my phone.

I shrieked again when the sound of someone moving through the woods crashed into me.

"Lillian!"

Derek's voice.

"What happ--" He slid to a stop. Stared. Dropped to his knees. "Oh my God, no..."

"Derek..." I found my voice, uncontrollable trembling terrorizing my body.

"No..." he breathed. "Laura." He moved a hand to touch her face. Her cold, pale, dead face. I didn't let myself look at the gore dangling out of her.

"Don't," I croaked. "This is-- this is a crime scene. We-- Call the police."

"Lillian..." Derek breathed, tears turning those animal eyes to pools of silver. "This is my sister."

"Wh-what?" I got out, covering my mouth with a violently shaking hand.

"Who did this," Derek breathed, I think more to himself than me. "Oh my God, Laura..."

"I'm so sorry, Derek," I whispered, watching as he hunched over and a sob escaped his lips. I'd never seen him cry. "I'm so sorry."