Becoming The Shadows (Shadow Series #4)

03- Mexico

His hands freeze on the steering wheel. "Why? It's eight at night."

I press my lips together. "Clear my mind."

Parrish raises an eyebrow, but leaves the car in park. "Are you sure?"

I unbuckle my seatbelt once again. "Very." I peer towards the direction that Stiles was driving off in. "If I need anything, I'll call you." I shake the new, cheap cell phone he had purchased for me the other day in my hand. I see the hesitation in his face about letting me go. "I'll be okay, Parrish."

He hits the unlock button. "It's a twenty minute walk back." Parrish glances at the time on the dashboard. "A minute later and I'm coming out to look for you."

"Okay." I agree. I climb out of the car, eyes glimpsing at the blue jeep down the road.

Parrish leans over the center console to see me better outside of his car. "Twenty minutes, Claire."

I nod at him before shutting the door. A small smile sneaks its way onto my lips from how protective Parrish has become of me over the past few days. He's the only one I have to talk to and it would seem that he doesn't have that many friends outside of the station. Only a few days have passed, yet I feel like I've known Parrish for years. Well, technically, I have known him longer than he has known me, but that's not important.

I start walking towards the sidewalk, in the same direction that Stiles was going. He had just paused at the stoplight due to a red light. I glimpse over my shoulder to see Parrish driving up to the red light, his gaze on me for the most part. Secretly, I'm enjoying how protective Parrish seems to be. Although, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

The light turns green. Stiles turns right, whereas Parrish goes straight. I pretend to go straight, at least until Parrish is far away enough to no longer see me in his rearview mirror. Sharply, I run to the right, eyes glued to the blue jeep up ahead. I push myself faster, wishing I was closer to the jeep. I remember the way to the animal clinic, thankfully.

The wind blows my air back out of my face as I pick up more speed. The trees and houses all become one giant blur, something a bit uncommon for human speed. My head whips around as I'm running, noticing that I'm running close to werewolf speed. How is this possible?

The blue jeep quickly returns to my line of vision and I slow down when I see the animal clinic up ahead. I keep to the trees, allowing them to hide me in their shadows. Stiles' parks his jeep outside of the clinic beside Scott's bike and Lydia's car. I hold my hand to my chest, realizing I'm not breathing heavily at all from that run. I don't even feel a little tired. Remembering the first day of being alive again, I run my hand down my calves, feeling rock hard muscles.

As if being poked with a pin, my calves deflate, like a balloon being popped, back to a normal size and not as hard. I yank my hand away. Okay, so I can grow muscles when needed? That's weird, yet very useful.

Stiles heads towards the back door of the clinic, which seemed to have been left unlocked for him. I dart out of the trees and race closer to the building. My hands slide along the side of the building until I find the window to the room that they are all gathered in. I peer inside, careful to be hidden by the darkness outside. Carefully, I reach forward and lift up on the window, very grateful when it slides up a little. You would think that Deaton would keep all the windows locked.

Stiles walks around the lab table. The same table that Lydia and Scott are standing around, as if they had been waiting to start talking until Stiles arrived. "Okay, so how long has it been?" Stiles asks, resting his hands on the metal table.

I inch closer to the window to hear their voices better.

"Weeks." Scott answers with a worried look on his face. "He hasn't gotten back to any of my texts."

Stiles stares at him, slightly surprised. "Has Derek ever returned your texts?"

My heart falls into my stomach. Derek. I haven't heard or seen him since the funeral. Worry seeps through my body as I begin to wonder what exactly they are talking about.

"Once. Definitely once." Scott is quick to say. A frown slips on his face. "But, this time it felt different. So, I went to the loft. The alarm was on."

My heart beats erractically in my chest. Oh, no.

"Everything looked okay. But, then I found these." Scott digs into his jean pockets and dropped some bullet shells on the table between all of them. "So, I sent a picture of it to Deaton. He said that it's the mark of a family of hunters based out fo Mexico. The Calaveras."

"What would they want with Derek?" Lydia glances between the two boys.

I clench my right fist, tightly. Derek is missing because of some family called the Calaveras.

"You don't think they killed him, do you?" Stiles asks.

I bite down on my bottom lip. No. Derek is strong. He wouldn't let some group of hunters be the one to kill him.

"I mean, he has been kind of a wreck since Clara's death. Maybe he didn't fight back." Lydia whispers. Her voice strains when she says my name.

Derek wouldn't give up because of me. He wouldn't do that.

Scott shakes his head. "I- I don't know. That's why you're here."

Lydia presses her lips together and reaches for the bullet shell. She holds it out in the palm of her hand. Closing her fingers around it, Lydia holds them tightly to see if anything comes to her. Her face scrunches up as she concentrates on something with her eyes shut. I lean closer to the window, desperate to see what she is seeing in her mind.

Her eyes flash open just as her hand drops the shells.

"Lydia, what? Is he dead?"

"No, but I'm not sure he's alive either." Lydia whispers.

"What does that mean?" Stiles questions.

Lydia shakes her head. "I don't know. There's something not right. I just- I don't know."

"So, if the Calaveras have him, how do we find him?" Stiles glances between his two friends.

"Mexico."

I exhale. Scott's head snaps in the direction of the window. I stumble backwards away from the window, realizing my mistake. Scott's figure steps closer to the window.

"Scott, what is it?" Stiles trails behind him a little bit.

Scott's eyes search outside of the window for whatever may be lurking out in the trees. I slowly step further back in the shadows to keep myself from being seen. "I thought I saw-" Scott shakes his head once he sees nothing outside. "Nothing. Never mind."

I slump back against a tree, chest rising and falling rapidly. That was way too close. With a million thoughts running through my mind, only one is the most dominant: I'm going to Mexico to help get Derek back.

XXXXXX

Ayye. I was able to update this again and I love it. It's weird to have Claire (Clara) sneaking around.

Who knows how Mexico will go down. Especially since Claire can't actually help her friends without giving herself away, which she isn't allowed to do.

Does anyone else notice that I always put one of the book titles in the story? I've always done that. It's kind of fun.

How do you feel about her relationship with Parrish? 

Question: If one person were to figure out that Claire is Clara, who would it be and why?

So, yeah!