The Art Of Drowning ― 𝐒. 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐊𝐈

five.

"DEREK?"

The Hale boy stood wondering who would be asking for him at that moment, since it was quite late. The voice was familiar; soft, kind. But it also sounded weak. Derek slid open the abandoned train's door and gaped at the injured girl.

It was Danielle, bruises littering her arms and a nasty scratch on her neck that was bleeding. She groaned in pain as she slowly inched towards him, but as she did, she grew more weak and was ready to fall face-first to the floor. Derek rushed towards her and caught her before she fell and sat on his knees on the cold floor, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Who did this to you?" Derek questioned, his brows furrowed.

"It-It's more of a what rather than who," Nel answered weakly, her eyes getting heavier.

"What did it look like?" Derek asked, now worried.

"Scales. . .slitted eyes and a-a tail," Nel described the thing that Derek was itching to kill, but he knew he couldn't.

"But you're not paralyzed," Derek whispered, more to himself.

"What?" Nel asked in confusion. "Why. . .?"

Derek looked down at her as she began to grow more weak, ready to go unconscious. He quickly held her hand and closed his eyes, exhaling through his nose. When he opened them, he stared at the black substance running up his veins and disappearing.

When he was done, Nel looked much more alert. "What did you do?" She asked, sitting up.

"I took away some of your pain," Derek answered with a small shrug.

"And what was that?" Nel questioned. "That thing?"

"It's called a Kanima," Derek sighed. "We don't know much about it yet."

"What does it want?"

"We don't know."

"Are you going to kill it?" Nel asked, her voice only a whisper.

"Yes. I'm going to," Derek answered and helped her up. "But before that, let's get you patched up."

▪▪▪

DANIELLE DID WANT TO SKIP SCHOOL, but it wasn't an option that morning because Max decided to scream upon seeing a spider in the bathroom and he slipped on the bathroom floor.

Thankfully, he wasn't so injured, just a little pain in his head, so he decided that he would drop Nel to school and head on to his class.

First class, Biology. Passed by with Nel reading at her text book and highlighting what's important, as the teacher said. Second, Math. Also went by quick.

Her third class was Chemistry. She walked into the class and sat down beside Lydia. The strawberry blonde smiled at her and Nel smiled back.

"Hey! I didn't see you this morning," Lydia said, looking at Nel properly.