magic bul
A loud thud from downstairs had sounded through the house startling the two teenage girls awake as they jolted upright. Usually neither were particularly light sleepers but they'd barely slept. Bleary-eyed the two looked at each other through the darkness, the only light coming from the small crack in Kinsey's curtains and the alarm clock that sat on her bedside table with its red light piercing through the dark like it always had. 1:58 a.m. Just half an hour after the two decided it was time to go to bed. In just a few hours they'd be up and waiting for Kate to arrive in town for Allison's birthday at 7:00 a.m. as she had planned, the two had planned to be well-rested for her arrival so they could make the most of the time she was here. Nobody knew when the next time she decided to pack up and leave again would be. But, of course, those plans had been foiled by whoever had caused the loud thud from downstairs. Without another thought Kinsey had climbed out of bed, wrapping her arms around her for warmth rather than opting to arm herself with something as defense against who or whatever was downstairs. But who could blame here? She was half asleep and exhausted, if she was asked her own name she'd probably forget that too. And Allison was the same. She had climbed out of the bed mimicking Kinsey's actions as the two stumbled through the hallway. Clearly, their curiosity had overcome their other senses, neither thought about the danger that could be downstairs, especially with the rise in crime in this town lately. They didn't think about the potential burglary that could have been happening downstairs or maybe even a murderer had broken in to kill them all. Usually, all of those would have been possibilities that they thought about, but usually, they had slept for longer than half an hour. Kinsey was barely able to walk in a straight line as she rubbed her eyes trying to stay awake long enough to figure out who had rudely woken her up at this time of the morning. Only owls should be awake at this time. Maybe foxes. But certainly not Kinsey's.
It was when they got to the top of the stairs that they saw an all too familiar sight, one that gave them deja vu of just last week on the day of the move. Chris stood at the front door ready to sneak out with a duffel bag in hand, clearly, he had no intention of waking up anyone, especially the two girls who were bound to question him. Just like they had last week when he bailed on traveling to Beacon Hills with them because he had something to do, that also involved him walking out with a duffel bag. Though that had been at a more acceptable time of day. While Kinsey let out a small, tired groan at the sight of her uncle wondering how she hadn't thought that it could have been him before Allison seemed the more concerned one of the two.
"What's going on?" Allison asked her father hoarsely, her voice barely audible she was so tired. That would be the last time the two of them thought it was acceptable to stay up and watch an entire season of Modern Family when they knew they were supposed to be waking up early to welcome Kate back into town. But they were teenagers. And they made mistakes. All the time.
"Kate just texted. I'm just heading out to pick her up." Chris answered softly careful not to wake the third woman in the house, he knew better than to disrupt the sleep of his wife. Victoria was cranky enough with a full night's sleep Kinsey dread to imagine what she was like with none.
"Mom? It's 2:00 in the morning. Is everything okay?" Kinsey questioned, not sure which was the more concerning part. The fact her mom had texted Chris for help at all or the fact she needed it at 2:00 in the morning when she too should have been getting sleep ready for the drive from San Francisco International where she was stopping off before she came down to Beacon Hills.
"Yeah, yeah. She's just having a little car trouble. She was planning on coming in early so she was here for when you both woke up." Chris reassured the two girls, neither thinking to question how un-Kate that sounded. Kate didn't do surprises or kind gestures. Not even for birthdays.
"Not serious, is it?" Allison asked, prepared to go with her father if she had to.
"No, just a flat tire. Go back to bed, girls."
Kinsey and Allison didn't argue with that suggestion, they were more than happy to go to bed as they both stumbled back down the corridor without another word being spoken between the three of them. They heard the front door close as they climbed back into Kinsey's bed, grateful to be back in its warmth after having to experience the cold winter night that spread through the rest of the house. Nothing about a house, or more so mansion, was cozy and warm. Its bare exterior meant it was impossible to have any warmth without the thermostat turned up to its maximum potential. Hence why Kinsey mostly opted for staying in either her bed or Allisons when she was at home absorbing as much warmth as she could from the heated blankets.
With the feeling of a warm glow on her face, Kinsey began to stir in her sleep until she finally gave in and opened her eyes to see a glimpse of sunlight shining through the small gap in her curtains, seeing the sun this bright and warm was a rare sight for someone who usually woke up at noon on a Sunday. She looked beside her to see Allison was still asleep with no bags under her eyes which she presumed was more than she could say for herself, she could feel the dull ache that came with a lack of sleep. After waking up in the middle of the night because of Chris she struggled to sleep, her thoughts plaguing her like always. It hadn't hit her what her uncle had said until she was lying awake in bed staring at the ceiling, finally able to take in his words. And with that came the realization that she was going to be seeing her mother for the first time in a year and a half. Of course, she was nervous. Would it be like nothing had changed? Would the absence on her own daughter's birthday come up? Would she try and make up for that? She shouldn't have been so nervous to see the woman, it was her own mother, but then they didn't exactly qualify for a normal mother-daughter relationship. It was hard to know where she stood with the woman who'd completely closed herself off from everyone in the family. How are you supposed to know how to approach a woman you haven't seen in a year and a half? Kinsey was a completely different person from who she was when she last saw her mother. She was sixteen now, in a new town with newfound confidence. New hobbies. New friends. A new life. Not the girl she was when she was fourteen still finding herself while being forced to move to all of the possible states in the country. That was the Kinsey that Kate had seen last. Not this Kinsey.
Her eyes wandered to the alarm clock once again, still an unholy hour that she didn't like to see on a Sunday. 7:29 a.m. meaning she had just a minute until the alarm Allison set would sound through her ears waking her up completely. That dreaded sound. A sound nobody ever really wanted to hear. With nothing better to do Kinsey stared at the clock watching as the seconds rose higher, closer to that awful noise, until it reached the last few seconds where she was able to prepare herself by placing the pillow of her head softening the noise. Allison woke up beside her with a groan as she shoved her younger cousin's arm so that she'd turn off the alarm but Kinsey refused to move her head from underneath the pillow until it had stopped. Which left the option of reaching out for the alarm and slamming her hand down until she'd pressed the right thing which after years of practice, she managed to do fairly quickly.
"Was getting up at 7:30 really necessary?" Kinsey mumbled through the pillow.
Allison sat up in bed stretching her arms out as she enjoyed that warm glow of the sun on her skin like the morning person she was before turning back to the girl hiding beneath the pillow. "Yes. Aren't you excited? Your mom who you haven't seen in months is coming into town."
"Almost two years, actually." Kinsey corrected as she finally moved the pillow. "And considering she was already in town at 2:00 a.m. I'm going to take a guess and say she's already here."
That little detail must have skipped over the well-rested brunette's mind as Kinsey watched her freeze for a moment letting the words sink in before her eyes lit up with an excited glow, one that Kinsey probably should have had too considering was her mother. But she failed to get excited, she was just preparing herself for the next time her mother left her down, she felt as if that was just inevitable. And with Kate coming back to town, it was only a matter of time before she decided to leave again. Disappear for another year and a half. Maybe longer. It was hard to get excited and have that glow when that was all that was going through your head 24/7. An overly enthusiastic Allison jumped out of bed, running around to Kinsey's side so she could drag her out of bed before dragging the younger brunette downstairs to the spare room that they had spent last weekend preparing for Kate's arrival. And sure enough the blonde woman was stood arranging her bags that sprawled across the bed, thus beginning Allison's excited screaming and Kinsey's facade of that douting daughter who had no worries about her relationship with her mom. Kinsey took Allison's lead in jumping up and down screaming as they entered the room, Kate wrapping them both into a large hug as she joined in with the screaming and jumping as though all three of them were teenage girls. But Kinsey had to admit that it did feel good to be hugged by her mother, to hear the woman's voice, see her familiar face again, and to finally have her back in a close vicinity after so long. Unlike how Kinsey's eyes had failed to light up with excitement Kate's had at the sight of her daughter, it hadn't gone unnoticed.
Kate beamed as she took a step back from the girls so she could get a better look at them, her eyes lighting up even more and a bright smile across her face which wasn't often seen by the family. "I don't see you both for a year, and you turn into freaking runway models?" Kinsey held back on the urge to correct her mother by adding the year and a half, instead, she focused on the compliment that her mother had paid them both as a slight rosy blush grew across their cheeks. "Look at you both. Oh! I hate you." Kate laughed while the two girls took a seat on her bed.
"I haven't even showered yet." Allison blushed as if that would take away from her natural scent of coconut shampoo that lingered even if she hadn't showered. But Kinsey would still tease.
"Yeah. I can tell." The brunette laughed earning her a playful shove from Allison. It was at that moment that Kate approached the brunette, stopping at her crossed legs that slightly hung off of the bed. When she noticed her mother looking at her it was thought her stomach sank with complete and utter dread, scared about what was about to happen.
But Kate simply cupped her daughter's face in her hands as she looked down at her admiringly, taking in all of the features that had changed since the last time. How her eyes seemed a lighter color than before, less of a chocolate brown and more so a honey color. How her skin seemed more tan than she was used to, still remaining from the previous summer even now in January. Her hair darker than it seemed before. But under all of the unfamiliarity was still her daughter.
"God I have good genes." Kate joked ruin any and all sentimentality of the moment as Kinsey rolled her eyes at the woman, shrugging off the hands that were placed on her cheeks.
"Nice try, Mom, I look nothing like you."
The woman shrugged in agreement. "But you look like an Argent." Kate grinned as she moved around the bed to continue unpacking her bags. "You're both knockouts. In fact, I hope you both have boys knocking each other's teeth our for either of your attentions."
"I kind of have one." Allison admitted, her cheeks blushing even more at the thought of Scott, like they always did. Every time she thought or spoke about the boy her face would light up, her cheeks would grow rosier and her spirit lifted.
"You kind of have one? You should kind of have a million."
The three laughed off Kate's comment before Kinsey looked down at the bag she was sat beside of knowing that she should probably offer to help her mom unpack, unlike her and Allison, Kate actually did unpack whenever she moved even if she knew it was temporary. But maybe she didn't car about having to constantly pack up her life- she had chosen that life.
"Do you need some help unpacking?" Kinsey asked as she reached for the zip on the bag beside her, but before she even managed to lay a finger on it Kate's tight grip was around her wrist stopping her from moving any further or being able to touch the bag at all. Both Kinsey and Allison were taken aback by the notion as they looked up at the blonde.
"No. Not that one." She snapped before she realised what she had done and immediately let go of her daughter who quickly moved her hand back away. "See, you turn out beautiful and I end up with this kung fu death grip. Sorry, sweetie, I didn't mean to be so rough." Kate apologised as she picked up one of her bags and moved it towards the on-suite to unpack it.
There was a small second of silence as Kinsey looked down at her wrist questioning why her mother had jumped so quickly, but she brushed it off, maybe all of her own paranoia had come from Kate who seemed to struggle just as much with that feeling. Allison had also sat quietly for a moment before a question popped into her head.
"Hey, is everything okay with your car?" Allison shouted through to the bathroom.
"Uh, yeah. I just needed a jump-start. Thats all."
"A jump start?" The older brunette questioned as she and Kinsey shared the same confused look but once again they'd brushed it off assuming their had been some miscommunication somewhere between Kate and Chris or Chris and them at two o'clock this morning.
-☽○☾-
Kinsey walked through the halls with her head down as she texted Stiles arranging their study session for tonight. Unlike Harris, their biology teacher had been more lenient with her seating arrangements as well as the partners her students were allowed to choose for projects, of course, that had meant Scott and Allison jumped at the chance to pick each other leaving the two people they'd usually pair up with alone. But it had worked out well for both of them. Kinsey had found herself desperate to get out of the house when she had found out the couple would be studying at their empty house, everyone knew that that meant. And Stiles had hoped to have an excuse of hanging out with the brunette girl who he now only saw during class or lacrosse practice where he'd have to wave at her from his place on the bench. Though neither were particularly thrilled that they'd have to complete a project for biology during this process but Stiles knew he needed a good grade and Kinsey knew that the subject was important for her current intention of becoming a nurse someday, helping people wouldn't come with ease if she couldn't even name their internal organs. He had considered flunking the subject and offering to spend the night doing something more entertaining like watching a movie or going paintballing rather than using the only opportunity he had had to hang out with her so far studying biology. But he'd too known what Kinsey had intended to do with her future and how much she would need this in the future, that and the last thing he needed was a teacher telling his dad he failed because he wanted to get to know Kinsey as more than a lab partner.
The brunette didn't look up from her phone until she barged into someone in front of her knocking said phone out of her hand. Before it had collided with the ground whoever she had knocked into caught it effortlessly allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief. In her panicked state over a phone that she knew she'd have to replace if it was broken the brunette hadn't even thought about looking at who she had run into until the phone was safely in her hand.
"I'm so sorry, I should have been looking where I was going and- Derek?" She mumbled as she looked at the dark-haired man with his unusually pale white skin and dark circles. He almost looked as bad as she did after a long night of drinking her body weight in shots like she had last week, but he had already seen her in that state. Which had reminded her. "Thank you. For this and the ride home the other night." She smiled as she held the phone he had saved up to him.
"Where's Scott?" He deadpanned, beads of sweat beginning to line his pale forehead.
"Uh, he should still be in class." Kinsey retorted with a furrowed brow questioning why the man she had known to have tan skin looked as though he was on death's doorstep. "Are you feeling okay, you look a little clammy and pale?" Kinsey asked as she raised her hand ready to feel the temperature of the man's forehead though that was quickly stopped as his own hand tightly wrapped around her wrist stopping her as she winced in pain. Not only was Derek's skin like fire on her skin but he had a much stronger grip than she had ever known, even in her days of self-defense classes she'd never known someone with such a strong grip.
"Where is Scott?" Derek repeated with a harsher tone, his pale face just inches away from the brunette's as she cringed in pain attempting to release her wrist from his grip.
"Derek, you're hurting me." She whimpered in pain. "I don't know where he is."
Her eyes widened as she noticed a streak of crimson red blood rolling down her skin, not knowing who it belonged to between them both. As Derek noticed the blonde's concerned stare he too turned his glance over to the trail of blood being left down her arm, but he knew that it was his. He quickly released his grip on the girl before storming away without another word leaving her standing in the middle of the empty hallway with her blood-covered phone in hand wondering many things about her exchange with the man. As well as what he needed Scott for. As the bell rang loudly in her ears Kinsey snapped out of her thoughts filled with questions about the infamous Derek Hale and as though nothing had happened she pulled her sleeve down hiding the trail of blood that would stain her arm. But as she had intended to do before barging into Derek the girl headed towards Allison and Lydia's class ready for their daily filling-in with the redhead who insisted that they had to be updated on gossip every day before going home. Because apparently, this was what the life of people in a popular clique had come to.
"Finally." Lydia sighed as the blonde caught up with them. "Allison needs our help."
"I don't need help. It's just a study date."
"Oh. A study date." Kinsey grinned as she turned to Lydia knowing they were both thinking the same thing at this moment. It was almost an unspoken rule in the book of teenagers that when two people who were dating had a 'study date' it was never just studying. It was always something more. No two people who were already dating could resist pouncing on one another, especially when they were usually in a house alone. Every reason to just have at it was right in front of them. But that was clearly something they would have to teach Allison, Kinsey always knew this day would come but she hadn't expected it to be anytime soon after her vow.
"Not you too." Allison sighed. "We're just studying together, Kins."
The two girls laughed once again, still shocked that in all of Allison's teenage years she hadn't figured that out yet. She was truly going to be more of a bad influence on her than Kinsey had originally thought to be. "Just studying never ends with just studying." Kinsey shook her head as they slowly began walking out of the school knowing this conversation could take a while. A while that they didn't want to spend in the hallways surrounded by prying ears.
"It's like getting into a hot tub. Somebody eventually cops a feel." Lydia shrugged.
"So what are you saying?" Allison asked growing more concerned about her lack of knowledge.
"We're just saying, you know, make sure he covers up." Kinsey discreetly retorted as Lydia nodded in agreement but it was clear on Allison's face that she didn't quite understand, discretion was not going to worth with a girl who felt as though she already knew nothing about this topic. From her wardrobe to her sex knowledge Allison had been on a completely different Earth to the two girls up until this moment when they were more than happy to fill her in on what she had been missing in her sixteen years. Even Kinsey knew about all of these things and she'd never even had a boyfriend whereas Allison had had a few not-so-serious boyfriends.
"Hello, Snow White, we're talking about a condom." The redhead joked as she jokingly slapped the brunette's arm but clearing up what they were talking about only worried Allison more.
"Are you kidding? After one date?"
"Don't be a prude."
"Give him a little taste," Kinsey suggested with a devilish smile across her face. That wasn't something she ever thought she'd be encouraging her cousin to do. Or any kind of family.
Allison wrapped her arms around herself as began feeling more uncomfortable with her sexual experiences, especially compared to the two girls that seemed to know a lot more than she did. She knew that she should have expected that from Lydia after her comment at the bowling alley but with her knowledge of her cousin's life she would have thought that she was almost as inexperienced as she was. But that was something that was bound to come to light when they had their much-anticipated girls' night that had been on the cards since they had moved to town. Allison cleared her throat before asking her next question, one that was sure to give her more details about sexual experiences than the rest of the questions she would ask. And that question might just determine her thoughts about Kinsey and what she had been up to in the past. "Well, how much is a little taste?" She mumbled, conscious of those standing around them.
"Oh, God. You really like him, don't you?' Lydia asked realizing that they had their work cut out.
"Well, he's just different. When I first moved here I had a plan, no boyfriends till college. I just move too much. But then I met him, and he was different. I don't know. I can't explain it." Allison beamed as both girls smiled at her. Maybe they were more experienced in some departments but both could agree that the kind of person Allison was talking about- they hadn't experienced.
With that, they both decided, even if they hadn't physically said it to one another, that they weren't going to let their best friend lose whatever it was that she had with Scott. Not when it made her as happy as it did, that was all they wanted for each other. The two girls guided her through the halls giving each other the tips that they themselves had learned over the years and everything Allison could possibly need to know to make it through her study date with Scott.
Kinsey walked out of the school besides Stiles as she attempted to convince him to let her drive Roscoe, though she knew it wasn't likely that he would give in she knew it was worth a try. She just wanted to see what was so great about the Jeep that he apparently spent most of his time duct-taping back together so he could get a few more years out of it. That debate continued until they had actually gotten into the Jeep with Stiles in the driver's seat cutting off any chance of the girl beside him being able to destroy his car before they even got out of the parking lot. And it wasn't because she seemed like a terrible driver after that night with the puddle but his beloved Jeep required gentle care. Kinsey seemed far from gentle. Before either of them had made it out of the parking lot they were stopped by none other than Derek Hale as he raised a hand causing Stiles to brake sharply, throwing both of them forward with only the dashboard to stop themselves as they harshly placed their hands on it to push them back. An immediate scowl came across Kinsey's face at the sight of Derek once again after the exchange she had with him earlier, but she couldn't help but notice how he looked even worse than he had then. His skin was almost transparent and his eyes were circled with a bright red. Derek stood there for a moment with his hand still raised up to them until he dropped weakly onto the floor in front of the car, even as someone severely pissed with him Kinsey still jumped out of the Jeep to his aid.
"You gotta be kidding me. This guy's everywhere." Stiles complained with his hands thrown up in the air as he turned to look at the girl in his passenger seat, only then realizing she had gone. "Kinsey, wait!" He shouted as he scrambled out of the car but the brunette was already kneeling in front of a weak Derek. Quickly joined by Scott who had run over after noticing Derek.
"What are you doing here?" Scott spat out at the man.
"He looks like he's dying." Kinsey deadpanned, widening Scott and Stiles's eyes as they questioned what they were supposed to do. Seeing Derek in this state was already more than she should have seen and now they'd have to figure out a cover story.
"I was shot." Derek weakly mumbled. He had lost all energy to care about whether she was sat in front of him or not, as well as how much Scott and Stiles would suffer because of his words.
"Stiles. Get her in the car." Scott urged. The other boy followed the instructions as he pulled a concerned Kinsey off of the ground as she tried to figure out the words that were jumbling up in her head. As well as her biggest question which was why the hell isn't anyone calling an ambulance?
"Wait, Stiles. What the hell is going on? He's been shot. You should be calling someone. Your dad. The freaking paramedics. Anyone." Kinsey tried to resist as she guided her away from Derek. "Why don't you seem worried about this? I know you love crime but-"
"I'll explain later, just please get in the car." Stiles insisted though she couldn't exactly object as she practically lifted her into the passenger seat before she tried to refuse again. "Please. Just stay in the car. I'll explain somehow, I promise." He mumbled as the girl nodded wearily, leaving her there for a moment while he headed back to Derek and Scott to find out what was going on.
Kinsey sat watching, nervously biting her knuckle as she watched Scott and Stiles talk to Derek with little to no urgency for a man who had claimed to have been shot. But as she sat watching more and more questions began filling her head, such as if Derek had been shot like he claimed how long ago was he shot after she had seen him half an hour ago when he was already bleeding. She didn't know much about being shot but she was sure most people didn't manage to stay alive that long if they had been shot and were bleeding out. The girl sat up in her seat as she watched Scott pick Derek up from the floor and slowly stumbled towards the Jeep, with no other choice but to keep the brunette here in the car Stiles told her to get in the back and once again that he would explain later. For once Kinsey had nothing to say back, no questions, no sarcastic comment, or something that came from her sharp tongue as she nodded and climbed in the back of the Jeep while Scott placed Derek in the passenger seat. After that everything seemed disoriented, nothing made sense to her as she sat back listening to the words that came out of Scott, Derek, and Stiles's mouth but nothing seemed to correlate. She felt like the stereotypical dumb girl.
An hour later Kinsey remained in the back of the Jeep still biting onto her knuckles nervously, the only difference between then and now being that she had a completely different outlook on the world that she lived in. Stiles had stuck to his promise. He gave her the explanation that he had promised to give her but had she known then what that explanation would mean for her, maybe she wouldn't have been so desperate for it. Since finding out not a single word found its way out of her mouth. Her eyes couldn't even look at the wolf sitting in the front seat, nor the boy who had filled her in on everything that had happened. Giving her a complete run-through of his life in the past few weeks and with Scott's permission, what it had meant for him too. If not for Derek sitting in front of her she would have brushed this off as a practical joke between Scott and Stiles but she had seen as his eyes flickered between his usual hazel colors and a glowing steel blue, she couldn't deny what she had seen. Or what she had been told. Everything had changed in a matter of hours. In the matter of a simple story of a teenage boy who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Throughout Stiles telling the story of Scott McCall and how he found himself to be a werewolf, Derek sat quietly, letting out an occasional whimper of pain as the bullet wound on his arm worsened. His body still not healing.
Stiles sat nervously tapping on his steering wheel as the three of them drove endlessly through town, where they were going Kinsey hadn't asked. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to know. What she did know was that they were waiting for Scott to find the bullet that injured Derek, which apparently belonged to a werewolf hunter. But that had been the best part. It wasn't just any random werewolf hunter. It was a family of them. Her family. That had been the main root of her silence, trying to process the fact she had been told her mother and uncle were werewolf hunters. And she had never even known about it. Never suspected anything about their 'business' until now when she questioned it all. That piece of information certainly topped the fact that the boy her cousin was dating was a werewolf. A thing she thought only existed in fairytales and movies like Twilight. Though she didn't point out that fact for two reasons- she could barely talk, and she didn't know whether that reference would be offensive to werewolves like Derek. She was sure that that knowledge would come with time, the longer she knew about this secret the more she was sure to find out about the world of werewolves that wasn't based on the books she had read. Or she'd go home tonight and spend hours googling werewolves.
"Try not to bleed out on my seats, okay?" Stiles irritatedly scolded Derek. In the hour she had been sat in their company she had figured out the two of them didn't have a great relationship or one at all. She could feel the hatred radiating from them both as she sat silently behind. "We're almost there." He sighed as he turned his eyes back to the road ahead.
"Almost where?" Derek mumbled weakly.
Stiles sighed loudly as though the answer was obvious, maybe not to Kinsey, but certainly to Derek who he would have presumed could figure out even that little detail. "Your house."
With a burst of energy, Derek looked up. "What? No, you can't take me there. Not when I can't protect myself." He shook his head leaving Stiles out of options of where he could take him. He certainly wasn't welcome in his house and he was confident that the Argents wouldn't want to welcome a werewolf into their home either, at least not intentionally.
"What happens if Scott doesn't find your magic bullet? Hmm?" Stiles shouted in anger.
Unable to bite her tongue any longer Kinsey sat forward between the two seats. "Are you dying?"
"Not yet. I have a last resort."
"Well, are you going to fill us in on that or am I just going to be left completely oblivious to the things that are happening around me again?"
Rather than an answer, Derek pulled up his sleeve revealing the gory sight of the bullet hole in his arms that acted as a blood pool. Both teenagers had the same reaction as they began heaving, unable to take their eyes off the sight no matter how much it made them want to throw up. What made Kinsey feel the most nauseous was that very blood was still all over her phone as well as dried onto her skin, that was a thought no amount of scrubbing in the shower would be able to remove. She was well and truly scarred. Emotionally and mentally. Slightly physically.
"Ugh, is that contagious?" Stiles heaved. "You know what, you should probably just get out."
"Start the car. Now." Derek insisted.
"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look. In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead." Stiles ranted only information, Derek, more, as for Kinsey she sat with a smirk on her face slightly impressed by his confidence that she had never seen in him before. But she still didn't believe he had the guts to do that. Nor did Derek. Or himself. "Okay, maybe I won't. But she will."
Derek and Stiles both turned to look at the brunette leaning in between the seats, after a second of consideration she nodded in agreement that she would happily drag his little werewolf ass into the middle of the road and leave him for dead. That would be her payback for bleeding out on her phone, her skin, and his death grip on her wrist. He deserved to be dragged out there. The wolf turned his stare from the girl back to Stiles as his lip curled with anger. "Start the car, or I'm gonna rip her throat out. With my teeth." He threatened, leaving them all in a moment of silence waiting to see if Stiles would test his luck again or actually do something that could save the life of the girl. He knew that if Kinsey died at all the entire Argent family would hunt down whoever killed her, and when they find out it was a werewolf that would only worsen the situation. Plus, he would be distraught himself if he was responsible for the brunette being killed because he couldn't help but be sarcastic to Derek. With a large sigh, Stiles turned the keys in the ignition starting the car and a journey that had no destination in mind. But at least he and Kinsey had got out of studying for one night, perhaps eternity if Derek ended up killing them both.
The three were left driving aimlessly around town waiting for a text from Scott after every single call from either Stiles or Kinsey went straight to his voicemail. Both of them could presume why he wasn't answering his phone but right now they cared less about Scott and Allison getting down and dirty and more about getting themselves out of this car. Kinsey had opted to talk more than she had before in hopes of distracting herself from everything going on, she knew that she would get the chance to ask all of her questions at one point. It didn't have to be tonight as long as she eventually got more detail about Scott, his transformations, and every other dire detail.
By the time Scott had turned on his phone and called Kinsey back, it was almost pitch black outside, all of them were more than irritable after Derek snapped at the two teenagers for singing along to the Mamma Mia soundtrack that Stiles had laying around in the car. With that on top of the immense amount of pain, he felt his threat was becoming more and more appealing to him. Though Kinsey found the wolf's bursts of rage humourous she knew that she had a better chance of surviving if she bit her tongue and contained her laughter until a time where she wasn't stuck in a steel can that Stiles calls a car. And Stiles was annoyed that Derek had snapped his Mamma Mia CD which was sure to make car rides home and stake-outs much less enjoyable than he was typically used to.
"What am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles argued with Scott across the phone. The brunette's ear pressed against the other side of the phone as she leaned over the seats eager to hear what Scott had to say after he had left them in Derek's company for much too long.
"Take him somewhere. Anywhere!"
Kinsey rolled her eyes as she took the phone from Stiles's hand. "Scott, that really isn't helping. And by the way, he's starting to smell." She sighed as both her and Stiles's eyes glared at Derek which he returned with his own piercing glance.
"Like what?"
Stiles pulled the phone closer to him again. "Like death."
There was a temporary silence over the phone as Scott processed what Stiles had just told him, as well as him trying to come up with a plan as to where in Beacon Hills they could possibly take a dying werewolf without getting into even more danger than they were already in with hunters on their backs who just so happened to be related to the girl they'd practically kidnapped.
"Okay. Take him to the animal clinic. My boss should be gone by now and there's a spare key in the box behind the dumpster."
"You're not gonna believe where he's telling us to take you." Stiles sighed as he passed the phone to Derek, the brunette quickly moving to place her ear on the other side on the phone once again because out of all three of them she was most likely to kick his ass once this was all over. What made that easier was that Derek was now too sick of the brunette to tell her to move away from how close she is to him, Kinsey herself had gotten used to his dreadful stench, and with how weak he had become over these last few hours she could beat his ass in her sleep.
"Did you find it?" Derek weakly asked.
"How am I supposed to find one bullet? They have a million. This house is like the Walmart of freaking guns! Seriously, how did Kinsey not suspect anything."
"If you don't find it, then I'm dead, all right?"
"I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing."
The girl slowly moved away as she thought back to this morning. Her mother's odd behavior when she and Allison had offered to help pack her stuff away while Derek continued to give Scott a lecture about why they all needed him alive. Kate never really acted normal but this morning had been a completely new weird behavior for her. She was more protective than ever, and not even over a human. But a bag. A black duffel bag. Just like the one Chris was often seen holding when he ran out on them in the middle of the night. Maybe whatever her mother was being so protective over was something that she wanted to keep away from them- like werewolves.
"Derek, give me the phone." Kinsey insisted as she held her hand out, the wolf who'd already had enough of Scott gladly placing it in her hand. "Scott, listen. This morning my mom was being really protective over this black duffel bag. I think that the bullet might be inside of it. You need to find that bag. Try looking in the room she's staying in, it's right next to the garage." Kinsey instructed as Stiles and Derek stared at her slightly impressed that for someone who had only known about the supernatural a few hours she'd managed to put those things together. And the fact she was willing to go against her mother to help Scott retrieve the bullet for Derek.
"Black duffel bag. Got it."
With an exasperated sigh, Kinsey ended the call and placed the phone back in Stiles's hand ready to head to the animal clinic as Scott had suggested, all of their hope for Scott finding the bullet dwindling by the second. They were all aware that their time was running out, Derek was closer to death than ever and he was their last hope at being able to save him and potentially themselves. Especially against this 'Alpha' that they all seemed to keep talking about. As soon as the shutters to the animal clinic opened Derek stumbled in, gripping his arm as he fell down onto a pile of animal food left in the corner. His exhausted expression, dark circles, and overall lack of energy were enough to make Kinsey tired every time she looked in his direction. That was until one of their phones began ringing causing them all to jolt in shock before they realized what the ringing actually was. Both Stiles and Kinsey patted themselves down trying to figure out whose phone it was until the brunette girl pulled hers out to see Scott's caller ID, all of them hoping that this was a call to give some well-deserved good news.
"Scott. Did you find it?"
"You take French class, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Good. I need you to translate something. I'll send it over." As her phone pinged to show she had received the image Stiles walked over curious as to what Scott had sent her until both were staring at an image of a small wooden box with a message engraved. Stiles, who hadn't ever taken a French class, stared at it with a furrowed brow questioning if Kinsey would know how to translate that. And maybe that he should take up French after all. "Can you translate it?"
"Aconit napél bleu nordique" Kinsey mumbled as she read from the picture translating the words in her head while Stiles stared at it struggling to pronounce the words. "Nordic blue monkshood. Does that mean anything to you?" She asked as she turned to the dying wolf with a raised brow.
"It's a rare form of wolfsbane. He has to bring me the bullet."
"Why?" Kinsey asked curiously with the phone pressed against her ear.
"Because I'll die without it." A lump formed in the brunette's throat as she told Scott what he needed to do leaving him to get out of whatever situation he had gotten himself in back at the Argent house. As soon as she had hung up Derek began standing up weakly clearly trying to move from the pile of food he chose to sat on, seeing that he was desperate at this moment the brunette wrapped his arm around her shoulder to support him. Which was a million times harder than when she had to hold Jackson up, but she was sure that Derek's weight was the weight of nothing but muscle. Stiles took the lead as he walked ahead to the surgical room with Kinsey and Derek stumbling behind trying to keep on their feet. "Why are you helping me?" Derek asked in a weak mumble and even though it was just a question the girl could see he was surprised by her actions after what he had done to her just a few hours ago. He could still see the trail of dry blood down her arm after she had removed her jacket.
"You might be an arrogant asshole, Derek, but like everyone else in this town, I know what happened to your family. And I can't blame you for who you are because of it." She answered honestly, surprising him even more with her words. "I have to give credit to you, if I had lost my whole family I'd be a complete wreck. And apparently my moms a bigger asshole than you are."
Unable to think of anything that would deem as an acceptable response to her words Derek took his weight from her shoulders to the surgical table in the middle of the room where he removed his shirt to examine the severity of his bullet wound. What was once just a pool of blood on his forearm had become an enlarged wound surrounded by bright purple and blue veins that stretched across his arm almost reaching his hand and shoulder. The two teenagers looked at one another again with a look of concern, their skin almost green with sickness as they tried to avert their eyes from the injury. But something like that couldn't be ignored so easily.
Stiles winced in disgust. "You know, that really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night's sleep couldn't take care of." He suggested in an attempt to be optimistic.
"Maybe some antibiotics?" Kinsey suggested instead, but Derek had already turned his back to begin searching through the drawers around the room, clearly, he had really passed his rate of tolerance for two sarcastic teenagers who had just waltzed unexpectedly into the world of the werewolves. His world.
"When the infection reaches my heart it will kill me."
Stiles shook his head in irritation. "Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?"
"If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time, last resort..."
"Which is?" They both questioned in unison, still desperate to know the werewolf's great plan after waiting hours upon hours to hear it. At this rate, they were expecting some magical fairy that could heal anything. Maybe even an angel. But that wasn't what they received. In fact, it couldn't have been further from some magical creature who could grant them some hope. Derek's last resort came straight from one of the drawers. A travel-size last resort. A bone saw.
"You're going to cut off my arm."
Kinsey chuckled nervously as she shook her head, Stiles taking a deep breath and puffing out his cheeks with the mere thought of having to cut off Derek's arm filling him with unshakeable nausea. Worse than nausea he had felt in the few times he had seen the man's infected arm. This had reached another level of supernaturally fucked up that he hadn't expected in his few weeks of knowing about their existence. All of the glory he had felt when finding out what his best friend had become withered into nothingness after everything he and Scott had been through in that time. An Alpha who bonded with his pack through killing together, almost being killed in the locker room, almost killing people on the field during lacrosse practice as well as a lacrosse game. Being involved in the werewolf world was far from glorious moments.
Derek passed the saw over the table leaving the choice as to who would be performing the surgery to be decided between Kinsey and Stiles. "You're joking, right? You want us to cut off your arm? Here? With no experience whatsoever with a bone saw. Seriously?" She asked as her eyes darted between the bone saw in front of them and the man asking them to do such an insanely unthinkable thing. If there was anything that would put the girl off of her idea of working in a hospital it was going to be tonight. Derek looked at her with an unimpressed stare to emphasize just how serious he was about his last resort. "Right. You don't do jokes. Stiles, you're up."
"What?" He mumbled in shock as the bone saw was placed into his hand. "No, no, no, no. No!"
Stiles shoved it back in her hands. "I can't do it. I'm a girl." She shook her head as she returned it back to him harshly, even holding it in its place hoping that would stop it from being in her possession again. That was a game that was continued for much longer than either would like to admit.
"Don't use that card on me, Kinsey."
Kinsey dramatically gasped in shock at the mention of her full name. "Oh, you son of a bitch. How dare you." The two continued passing each other the bone saw in between each other's hands while Derek stood aside trying to tie an elastic band around his arm ready for the surgery he was about to receive from two severely annoying teenagers. "Together?" Kinsey suggested, seeing that as their last resort, and the only way she was going to put that bone saw near Derek's arm.
Stiles nodded before taking in these last few moments of Derek having both of his arms and his heart still beating to ask some questions that he was desperate to have answers to. And for once it wasn't who was Sophie's dad in Mamma Mia which was something he was willing to debate with anyone. So as he leaned on the table he cleared his throat prepared to ask the list of questions he had thought of. "What if you bleed out?" Being the first out of many, many questions. By the time Stiles had stopped asking questions, Kinsey was surprised Derek hadn't already passed out and died on the ground. Even after all of his thoughts had been answered between Derek and Kinsey who had given up with him, Stiles still remained unsure whether he was willing to do this. Alone or along with Kinsey. "I don't know. I really don't think that I can do this." He shook his head, his eyes still tightly on Derek's bloody wound.
"Why not?" Derek angry mumbled through the elastic band in his mouth as he struggled to tie it, Kinsey knew she probably should help him but it was just so close to that disgusting wound. She didn't need any more of Derek's infected blood on her pristine skin today. But eventually, the brunette moved to help him anyway, watching him pretend he wasn't struggling was almost as painful as looking at the wound itself.
"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone and especially the blood!" Stiles emphasized as his voice choked with nerves.
As soon as Kinsey had tied the knot both of them looked at him exasperatedly. "You faint at the sight of blood?" They asked in unison, both showing their disbelief.
"No. But I might at the sight of a chopped-off arm!"
"All right. Fine." Derek groaned as he became closer and closer to the edge of unconsciousness, the girl could see that as she slowly moved back round to Stiles's side gaining the distance from Derek that she saw necessary. "Either you two cut off my arm, or I'll cut off your heads"
"Here we go again," Kinsey mumbled under her breath as she watched Stiles raise his hand ready to start an argument he had been waiting all afternoon for, and frankly, so had she. The two of them had received more death threats in the past few hours than they had in their sixteen years, and they'd pissed off a fair amount of people in their lifetime.
"Okay, you know, I'm so not buying your threats anymore." Stiles began to argue before Derek leaned over the table to grab his collar pulling the boy inches away from his own to carry out the threat of ripping his throat out with his teeth. "All right, bought, sold, totally, we'll do it."
"We'll do it?" The brunette asked with fear lacing her tone. "Derek? Why does it look like your about to throw-" Like she had predicted Derek leaned over the table, throwing up a large amount of black liquid onto the floor which had definitely been the most disgusting thing that they had seen today. It was like a puddle of tar on the ground, and it had just come from Derek. Could anything be more disgusting than that?
"Holy God! What the hell is that?" Stiles squealed.
Derek leaned his head on the table weakly to support himself. "It's my body, it's trying to heal itself." He mumbled.
"Well, it's not doing a very good job of it."
"Now. You've gotta do it now."
Kinsey choked up as her eyes widened at Stiles. "Now?'"
"Now!" Derek screamed at the top of his lungs causing the girl to quickly grab the bone saw.
Both of them had hoped Scott would have made it by now, that he would stroll in casually right before they cut off Derek's arm. Saving the day. But it was too late for that now. They were already lining up the bone saw with Derek's arm, both with one hand on the bone saw and their free hands gripping onto each other with fear. It was safe to say the dynamic of their whole relationship had changed over the past few hours. Before they were just two teenagers who shared a few classes and had friends/a cousin who was dating each other meaning they would occasionally hang out at lunch. But now it was clear they were stuck together, Scott's secret had practically bonded them from eternity. There was no going back to the way things used to be. It wasn't that simple anymore, not in a world where werewolves were real.
As the two tightened their grip on each other's hand they signaled to one another that they were ready to do it, as ready as they'd ever been to cut off a werewolf's arm. With a shaky breath, Kinsey closed her eyes while Stiles tried to boost his confidence with some cheering hoping that maybe it would take the edge off. As if that were possible.
"Stiles?" Scott's voice shouted through the empty animal clinic, immediately opening the Kinsey's eyes as she looked towards the doorway questioning if she had gone insane.
"Scott?" Stiles muttered, him too questioning his sanity.
The wolf got to the doorway panting heavily, those breaths were knocked straight out of his body as soon as he saw the sight in front of him. Stiles and Kinsey holding hands, a bone saw in the other. Derek lying in front of them lifeless with the wound on his arm that he too found horrid, but that wasn't his main focus in this situation. Questioning what the hell Kinsey and Stiles were doing was what he really needed to concentrate on.
"What the hell are you doing!"
Both of them dropped the bone saw with a sigh of relief.
"Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares." Stiles chuckled nervously.
As Derek asked if the other wolf had found the bullet Scott began digging through his pockets to pull out the golden bullet that caused all of their torment for the past four hours. For something that had led to something so dramatic it seemed like a pretty basic bullet, Kinsey wasn't some kind of expert on bullets like her mother but she would have imagined something slightly more fascinating than a simple gold piece of metal. Even if it had almost killed Derek. It was kind of anti-climatic. Derek held up the bullet to his eye level, his eyes themselves blurring in and out of focus as he began swaying which didn't pass as a good sign to the three teenagers around him. His grip on the bullet became looser until both the bullet and himself dropped to the ground causing panic in all three teenagers as Scott rushed to grab the bullet before it fell into the drain with Kinsey and Stiles dropping to the ground in the aid of Derek. Something they never thought they'd be so willing to do. Even after spending hours with the wolf, they hadn't expected themselves to move so quickly just to help someone who had spent hours threatening them.
Kinsey and Stiles each took their turn slapping Derek lightly across the face as they shouted his name hoping that they would be able to wake him up, that he wasn't actually dead. Not after he expressed how much the three of them needed his help to stay alive against the Alpha. They could hear Scott struggling across the room as he tried reaching for the bullet that he hadn't been quick enough to catch. Stiles shouting for some guidance as to what they were supposed to do didn't help calm the wolf down either, all of their nerves had sky-rocketed in the past minute and it didn't feel as though they'd be coming down anytime soon.
"He's not waking up, Scott!" Kinsey nervously shouted with her voice shaking, as well as the hands that tried to find a pulse within Derek. Everything that Chris had ever taught her had flown out of the window, all of the questions she used to ask as a curious child forgotten. All she could remember was how to perform CPR and that was certainly not something she was willing to do.
"I think he's dying. I think he's dead." Stiles panicked.
"Just hold on!" Scott shouted back as he continued to struggle. Within a few seconds, his tone had changed from over-whelmed and panicked to hopeful as he shouted. "I got it!" repeatedly.
Now it was crunch time. They had the bullet. Now they needed Derek back. Stiles took a deep breath as he raised a clenched fist. "Please don't kill me for this." He mumbled as both he and the brunette closed their eyes in preparation for his fist to collide with Derek's face. A loud grunt followed the sound of Stiles punching Derek, alerting the girl to open her eyes and see a frantic Stiles gripping onto his fist and a very much awake Derek lying in front of her. He took the bullet from Scott's hand as the wolf and Kinsey helped him back from the ground, leaning him against the surgical table once again.
Rather than examining the bullet-like he previously had the wolf immediately bit off its cap with his teeth, the metal scraping against his teeth as the three around him cringed. Kinsey and Stiles particularly because rather than the bullet they were imagining their throats like he had used as a threat all day. He tapped the wolfsbane out onto the table before setting it alight, turning it to a bright spark that they all had to step back from if they wanted to leave tonight with their eyebrows. The spark burnt down into a blue dancing flame allowing Derek to scrape what was left on the table into his hand. He waited a few seconds, taking a deep breath before he slapped the wolfsbane onto the wound, his finger digging the concoction further into the hole. A blood-curdling scream came from Derek's mouth as he stumbled across the room in pain until he fell onto the cold floor, still releasing a large scream as Kinsey, Stiles, and Scott moved to watch him as he rolled across the floor. Each of them gripping onto each other scared as to what would come next. Clearly, this wasn't Derek's first rodeo of being poisoned by wolfsbane but it was theirs. And it was terrifying. Their jaws slowly fell slack as they watched the bright purple veins that stretched across Derek's arm fade into nothing, his bullet wound closing up as it released a blue flame that resembled the one the wolfsbane had died into. Until there was nothing left. Nothing to commemorate the amount of stress and trauma all four of them had gone through.
"That. Was. Awesome!" Stiles cheered as he pumped his fist into the air. "Yes!"
Kinsey turned to Scott who shared the same puzzled expression as she did, both wondering what part of that he considered 'awesome' when just ten minutes ago he was almost crying at the thought of a chopped-off arm. None of this was awesome. It was traumatizing.
"Are you okay?" Kinsey asked as Derek sat up.
"Except the agonizing pain?"
Stiles scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health." His comment received them all a piercing glance from Derek showing his irritation, and now that he wasn't on death's doorstep he definitely had the ability to carry out those threats. As well as provide payback for all of the things that Kinsey and Stiles had said today. From threatening to drag his werewolf ass out of the Jeep and leaving him on the side of the road to saying he smelt like death to Kinsey telling him he was one of the biggest assholes she'd ever met.
"Okay, we saved your life, which means you're gonna leave us alone. You got that?" Scott spoke up confidently. "And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Kinsey's family and I'm gonna tell them everything." He began to rant incessantly until Derek decided to cut him off.
"You're gonna trust them? You think they can help you?" Derek snarled as he looked at just one of the 'them' that he was referring to. An Argent. A hunter. Or in her case, a child of a hunter.
"Why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are!" Scott shouted back with the two beside him nodding in agreement. Maybe Kinsey was slightly bias considering it was her family, and maybe Kate wasn't always the nicest but she definitely was nicer than Derek had been today, she hoped her mom wouldn't threaten her as much as she'd been threatened by the wolf.
Derek scoffed with a smile growing across his face, but it wasn't the kind that brought comfort to teenagers like themselves. It was a smile they all recognized. A devious one. A smug one. One that they really didn't want to see. "Yeah, I can show you exactly how nice they are."
Once Derek had left with Scott to show him proof of what the Argent's were capable of Stiles was left to take home the brunette who opted out of seeing whatever Derek was planning to show the younger wolf, today had already been too much for her. Stiles knew that taking Kinsey home meant that she would probably bombard him with all the questions she had failed to ask earlier. He still had a million questions himself that he couldn't get the answers to, and he had tried. But googling werewolves, lycanthropy and myths doesn't provide the answers that he wanted or needed. The only person who could truly answer some of their questions was Derek which didn't seem likely, he didn't trust them and they didn't trust him either. There wasn't any chance of him telling three teenagers every werewolf secret that existed. Especially when Kinsey had only known about it for a matter of hours, not when she hadn't even had the chance to form a proper reaction to everything that she had found out. And certainly not when she was part of the family of hunters. The silence wasn't what they had expected. The two pulled into the driveway after a somewhat quiet car ride home. Stiles had spent that time wondering why Kinsey hadn't spoken, why she had failed to ask any questions about what she had seen today. What she had unwillingly been pulled into. Kinsey had spent that time thinking of what she really wanted to ask, what question would provide her the most comfort. She knew that when she eventually got out of the car and got home she would end up spending the entire night searching through mythology for more insight into werewolves or the secret that her family was keeping from her and Allison, a secret that she'd now have to keep from the girl she lived with and called her closest confidant. Allison hated liars, Kinsey knew that. And now she'd have to be one of them if it meant keeping the person she undoubtedly loved the safest. But she knew that some answers would have to come from Scott and Stiles if she wanted honest, brutal answers.
And only one question came to mind.
"Is knowing about this going to get me killed?" Her voice cracked as she turned to look at him for the first time since leaving the animal clinic. For once she showed fear, weakness. Vulnerability.
"What do you mean?"
"Knowing about Scott's secret. About the Alpha. Is he going to come for me?"
Stiles sighed as he threw his head back, unsure about how he should answer the blonde. He could see she wanted comfort. But she also wanted honesty. And the honest answer was that it was a possibility. The Alpha could come for all of them, but so far he hadn't. "I don't know."