Brother || Teen Wolf

Chapter 44 - Judge, Jury and Executioner

While Allison and Scott were forgetting all about the Alpha and Beacon Hills overall mysterious atmosphere, Jackson couldn't get his mind away from the latest weird event he had heard about. The list was getting long and every single odd occurrence seemed to strengthen his belief that the mysterious Derek Hale was behind it all. Of course, he was highly biased, but he was so determined to put the blame on Derek's shoulders that he could no longer see the bigger picture, and how dangerous the situation he found himself in actually was.

Even as he was lifting a heavy weight, alone in the school gym, a small part of his mind was still focused on Scott, Derek, and how lycanthropy connected them. His shirt was drenched in sweat and he hated it, for he knew that Scott, with his ridiculous strength, would have no trouble at all lifting such a heavy weight. He was only struggling because he was human, and he deserved to be something more. The thought got him mad and he grunted, his biceps screaming as he lifted the bar again at a painfully slow pace. 

It was the loud music that blared out of his small speaker, mixed with the sounds of his own struggle, that made him unable to hear the light footsteps that were coming his way. Jackson remained oblivious to the shadow behind him, still caught up in his dream of vengeance and power. Until said shadow grew bored of being ignored and turned his music off. 

Jackson froze into place, his arms suddenly lighter as the fear kicked in, and he unceremoniously dropped the weight to the floor as he scrambled to his feet. His head turned in every direction, searching for the intruder. His eyes kept coming back to his speaker, and when the silence lingered, he hoped that maybe, just maybe, that his speaker had run low on battery and switched off was what explained the sudden silence. It would all be a coincidence, a bit of a scare that he would laugh about the next morning. 

But this was Beacon Hills, a place where coincidences do not exist. And Jackson knew it, he had known for a while now, but it didn't prevent his heart to sink in his chest when a new song started playing and an ominous silhouette seemed to appear in front of him.

"I like your taste in music," the silhouette spoke, striking up a conversation. He took a step forward, getting dangerously close to the teen in front of him and finally showing his face -- it was Derek. His head was cocked to side as he seemed to be enjoying the music, "I haven't heard this one in a long time."

Jackson did his best not to panic and run despite every fibre of his being yelling him to get away from the werewolf. Instead, he stood his ground and brought his hands into fists to hide the fact he was trembling, and he spoke.

"I'm not scared of you," he lied. He frowned when he saw the unconvinced look on Derek's face, anger taking over, "I'm not afraid!"

"Yeah. You are," Derek scoffed. Even without using his sense of smell, he could tell fear was radiating from Jackson. A small smile found his lips as he laid out his trap, but he was a skilled enough liar that Jackson saw no more than an unexpected outburst of compassion, "You know, I bet you haven't had a day in your whole life where you haven't been afraid of something. But you won't have to be anymore. Not when you're one of us."

That was all Derek needed to say for the unsuspecting teenager to follow him through the forest. It was almost too easy. He would have thought Jackson would be more suspicious of him, that he had learned from other people's mistakes and feared the creatures of the night enough not to blindly follow one through the woods. The worst part was, he did it all knowing exactly what Derek was. Maybe, if he hadn't been blinded by ambition, he could have seen how much of a threat he was to the pack he so badly wanted to join. 

After what felt like an eternity -- at least to Jackson -- they arrived in front of the ruins of an old house, one that was eerily familiar to both of them. Jackson's eyes widened when he recognized the place he had dreamed about, countless times. The place that burned down, melting his skin every time his nightmares dragged him inside. The Hale house.

"This house... It's the same... house," he stuttered, mouth agape. 

This peaked Derek's interest, and unbeknownst to Jackson, saved his life by distracting the predator that stood next to him.

"What'd you say?" the grumpy man asked, not remembering seeing Jackson around his house nor catching his scent in the area. Maybe the teen knew something. Or maybe he was just stalling, but he wouldn't know if he ended his life on the spot.

"I've dreamt about this place. I.. I remember the staircase. I remember these... these walls. I remember everything," the young man said, his eyes scanning the old house as he spoke.

"You've been here?" was Derek's curt reply.

"No, never," Jackson shook his head, not hiding the truth. "I dreamt it."

Jackson frowned as he saw Derek relax his shoulders, an almost disappointed look on his features. A sudden realization hit Jackson square in the chest, making his heart miss a beat. This place was silent. It was the middle of the night and no one was around. Anything could happen here, and none would be the wiser. 

"There's no one else here, isn't it?" Jackson shuddered, terror lacing his voice. "And no one else is coming?"

Derek didn't answer. He simply stood there, glaring coldly at the young man that cowered in fear under his gaze. He found him pathetic, weak, and if had been stupid enough to follow him to the Hale house, then he deserved what was coming his way. 

"No, please..." Jackson begged for his life, "Please don't, okay? I'll shut up, I'll never say another word again. I'll leave Scott alone. Please, you can't do this! Please! I don't deserve it!"

"Oh, but I think you do," Derek calmly disagreed, crossing his arms as was his habit. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, both a familiar tingling sensation and the look of pure terror on Jackson's face told him that his eyes were glowing. Now was the time to let his anger out.

"Look around you! Wouldn't there be someone here trying to save you if you deserved to live? There's no one here, and there is a reason for it," he spat, doing nothing to hide how much the teen disgusted him. "No one cares that you drive a Porsche. No one cares that you have perfect hair, and no one cares that you're captain of the Lacrosse team!"

Jackson took a step back, his entire mind consumed by a simple truth that made his ears ring, drowning any other sound. He was about to die here. There was no escape this time. Like Icarus, he had flown too close to the Sun and the Sun was about to burn his wings -- or maybe in his case, it was the Moon that was to blame. 

He closed his eyes and waited for it all to end.

It started off as a wave of heat that warmed his bones. It wasn't a burning heat, more like a warm aura. It didn't feel particularly good, but it didn't feel bad either. Was this death coming upon him? Was this the bright everyone talked about, the one at the end of the tunnel? Jackson opened his eyes to check, and the very fact that he could still do so informed him that he was still very much alive, and standing in the middle of what now resembled a war zone. There was fire, and Derek was nowhere in sight.

Someone came. Maybe he deserved to live, in the end.

A/N: Somehow, this book got 1,5K reads. I don't really know how this happened, but I'm sure glad it did. Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!