"Sorry, Lahey, but I'm more of a cat person."
Vera Pérez is no stranger to the supernatural. Growing up alongside the Hale family has kept her fairly well-informed about the creatures that lurk in the darkness. However, she didn't become one of thos...
┌─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┐ chapter seventeen! UP IN FLAMES └─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┘
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
( visionary, pt. i )
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
DEREK LEAVES TOWN that night. Vera doesn't find out until he's already gone. She's lying in bed, curled into a fetal position with a purring Hades curled into her side, her glassy eyes locked on her wall as the moonlight streams through her curtains, when her phone vibrates. Hades' head jerks up as the buzzing disturbs his dozing. Vera is snapped out of her daydream and sluggishly turns her phone so the screen is facing her. Her sister's name flashes across it.
As soon as she accepts the call, Cora's voice reports, "Derek left."
It takes a moment to process. Vera's voice is hoarse from lack of use when she creases her brow and asks, "What?"
"He packed up and drove away. Didn't even say anything. I think he's trying to protect us."
Derek always is. Everything he does — everything he's been doing since his return to Beacon Hills that January — is to protect someone. Her, Dominic, Scott, Cora, Isaac. The loss they'd suffered tonight... he wants to make sure nobody else has to die. The Alphas can't force him to kill another one of his Betas if he isn't in town.
Vera can't tell what part of her feels the loss of Boyd and what part still aches from being manhandled by Aiden. Her entire right side thrums with pain after hitting the cement so hard. There are small puncture wounds on her biceps from his claws. She'd bandaged those up but had refused Dom's suggestions to take pain medication before bed. Boyd's death will make her hurt regardless. No amount of pills can ease the ache in her heart.
Two pack members gone in less than three months. She's starting to feel like she'll never be whole again.
"Did he say when he'll be back?" Vera questions as Hades stands with a stretch, walks in a circle, and then tucks himself back into her once more. She lifts her free hand to scratch at the nape of his neck, wincing at the fresh throb of agony the action brings.
"No," Cora answers. "Liability."
Right. The same reason why Vera never asks her mother where she goes on her business trips.
Vera continues the conversation with another inquiry. "Do you want to sleep here? I can come and get you— you're not alone anymore."
Cora hesitates. Vera is almost certain she's going to reject the offer, claiming she's better off by herself, only to surprise her by muttering in a voice so quiet she can hardly hear it through her phone's speaker, "Yeah."
