The Shadows Within 》Teen Wolf (Shadow Series #2)

6 - One Shot

   The house is dark with just enough light from the moon shining in. With my back against the wall, I watch as two hunters drag my sister in to the room. A bag is loosely over her head with her arms tied together. I didn't want to be a part of this. I know how it feels to feel helpless, to not have any idea on what is going on, to assume the worst. Dad's version of this lesson is a million times better than how Aunt Kate's was. He didn't slam Allison's head in the ground. 

   Once Dad woke me up to say that I had to come along, I texted Derek saying our plan had to happen tonight. Yesterday, he showed me where to shoot him in the chest. I didn't like any of it, but I need my family to trust me, especially now with Gerard being here. I mean, I seem to always be lying to my parents, so why not just keep that going?

   Dad is sitting down in the chair directly across from Allison, his hands behind the chair and a bag on his head. At least, dad picked the the Hale House instead of driving a few towns over. Dad's approach on this is much better than what I had to go through. 

   He didn't quite understand why I wanted to bring my bow with me, but when I told him I just feel safer with it, he didn't really question me. Yes, I do feel safer with it which wasn't a complete lie. The main reason was because once all of us leave Allison alone to get out of being tied up, Derek is just going to happen to be in the woods, I'm going to spot him pretending to be all angry at him, and shoot him in the chest. Hopefully, all of this goes according to plan and my dad sees that I am truly done with werewolves. 

   I had no idea any of this was even going on until he woke me up saying to quickly get dressed and he would explain on the way. Dad mainly just said that Allison's training has begun. I put the pieces together when we parked in the shadows of a gas station where Allison was getting gas. They had the light flick off and next thing I see is Dad throw a bag over my dear sister's head.

   One of the hunters, Bennett, comes up from behind Allison and yanks the bag off of her before walking off. Allison holds back a scream with the gag tied on her mouth. She can't see me. I'm completely hidden by the shadows. However, she can see dad in his chair with a gag in his mouth. He moves around like he is tied up like her. She cries harder. His voice speaks throughout the whole house from the speaker set he had set up earlier today. 

    "Ever wonder what happens if a hunter gets bitten, Allison? Ever wonder what happens if you get bitten? What do you think your father would do?"

   Dad breaks the back of the chair with his strength. He stands up, yanking his hands free from the loose rope he had me wrap around them. He finishes his little act by pulling the gag out of his mouth. Bennett steps up and hands an iphone to my dad, showing that the voice talking is just a recording. 

   "What do you think he'd have to do? When all it would take to change everything is - one bite. One bite - " 

   Allison figures all of it out. Her eyes hold fire within them. She breathes heavily and squeezes her eyes shut to regain control fo her emotions. 

  Dad pauses the recording. "Everything changes." He steps forward and pulls the gag out of her mouth.

   "Is this how we're gonna do father/daughter talks from now on?" Allison angrily snaps, her voice cracking from her crying.

   Dad points his finger at her. "No, this is how we're gonna train you. Do you know why we use arrows?"

   Allison's chest moves up and down rapidly as she watches dad grab something from Bennett. "They can't heal until it's taken out."

   Dad holds up an arrow. I squint in the darkness. "Look familiar? Because I know it's not Clara's." 

   I step out of the shadows, feeling Allison's shocked gaze on me. That looks a lot like the arrow that was in the hunter's leg from the other night. Allison shot him? I knew she knew about all of this now, but I didn't think she had it in her to actually shoot someone. 

   "You were going to kill him." 

   "That's right." Dad points the arrow in her direction, stepping forward. "And if we find Isaac on another full moon, we will kill him. That's the hard choice we make. But it wasn't my choice."

   "Gerard?" Allison guesses. 

   "No." Dad walks around until he is behind her with both of his hands placed on her shoulders. "See, our family has a surprisingly progressive tradition. Knowing wars and violence are typically started by men, we place the final decisions, the hard ones - With the women." He surprises me by saying. He walks to her side, one hand on her shoulder. "Our sons are trained to be soldiers. Our daughters, to be leaders." Dad places the arrow in her hands before kissing her head. "Training starts now. Time her." 

   Bennett hits the start button on the stop watch. Both of us follow my dad out of the house to wait by our vehicles. Dad decided he was going to leave me here with Bennett to wait until Allison finished. Scanning the trees, I slyly search for wherer Derek might be. He didn't really say where he would be. All he said was to be prepared.

   Something moves from tree to tree, kicking up leaves. In one quick move, Dad whips out his gun and I draw back an arrow. I cannot seem weak when I do this. If I show any emotion when I hit Derek, Dad will know and I'll forever lose their trust. 

   "Clara, get behind me." Dad orders. 

   I ignore him and take a step forward. I need to be the one to do this. Derek darts behind another tree. I waste no time in sending an arrow in his direction. Like I suspected, the arrow misses him and hits a tree instead. This is it. My one shot. Derek is going to make another run for it to the left. He said if he shows like this is planned, my dad will know what's going on. 

   Like Derek had said, he dashes to the left. I exhale before releasing the arrow through the air. I didn't even think twice, knowing I would talk myself out of doing this. The arrow soars through the air, pentrating through Derek's back and through his chest. 

    "Whoa." Bennett hisses from behind me.

   Derek takes off running, one hand pressed to his bleeding chest. I keep my emotions on a tight reign as my dad whips me around.

   "What the hell was that?" Dad yells, lowering his gun once he releases Derek is completely gone.

   I step out of his grasp. "What? I was protecting us. He was probably here to get back in his house."

   Dad analyzes my hard face. Do not show any emotion. I need to gain their trust. This was the only way to do so. They would never expect me to hurt Derek after I dated him. He takes a step back, staring at me with a new outlook on me. "Good job."

   Two and half painfully long hours of doing absolutely nothing, Allison emerges from the house. She rubs her wrists, not paying any attention to Bennett or me. I had crawled up on the trunk of our car and he had resorted to leaning up against it. We chit chatted a little bit about things. I mainly stayed quiet and worried about Derek. Of course, I couldn't text him with Bennett around. I just needed to know that he took the arrow out and he's healing.

   Bennett stops the timer. "Congrats." 

   Allison pauses by him. "For what? It took me two and a half hours." 

   "Took me three when I did it." Bennett walks over to his bike. 

   "You don't even want to know what my training was like." I jump down from the trunk. "Do you want to drive or shall I?"

   Allison holds the keys in her hand. "I'll do it." 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Not much really happened in this chapter, but it was important. She gained her family's trust back by shooting Derek. 

It's actually midnight right now and as soon as I finish this author's note, I'm going to bed. I really should stop staying up late to write chapters. 

Question: What do you think Gerard will try to get Clara to do?

So, yeah!