Chapter Forty-One: Unleashed (Part 1)
Chapter Song: The Struggle by Grizfolk
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Sounds of unintelligible whispers floated in the air, their words sounding off a foreign language. Branches rustled together, floating into my hearing. My eyes opened in one swoop, finding myself standing in the dark hallway of Beacon Hills High. Decaying tree branches mangled themselves up the walls and lockers. Green plants with white Barries attached themselves to the branches. I walked up to one classroom that I recognized to be Harris' classroom. The vines and branches covered the doors, obstructing me from getting in. My hands ran over the plants, my fingers grasping the berries between their tips. What was this?
"Hayley." One of the voices whispered, its words finally recognizable. My head popped up and in continued down the hallway. I tried again at the English classroom, only to be blocked one again. As I took a step back from the English classroom door, my shoes began squeaking on a slippery substance. My eyes trailed down, finding the linoleum stained in dark blood. A shaky breath escaped my lungs as I began backing away from the door. Blood began running down the branches on the door. I continued to back up until my back hit what should have been the lockers.
Instead of hitting the lockers, I found my footing waiver and soon found myself falling a hundred miles an hour. I screamed out, watching the school disappear as I fell and my surroundings turn dark and surrounded by concrete. Sights of broken down escalators and steal beams wizzed by my vision before I hit the floor with a slam.
"Ugh." I grunted out, feeling the impact of the fall yet verberate through my body, yet feeling none of the pain. I rolled over onto my side, only to release a banshee like scream when my eyes fell on the lifeless body of a bald man beside me.
Sunlight flooded my vision, a quiet gasp for air echoing in the room as I gently jolted awake. My heart raced, thumping loud against my chest.
"Another dream?" A voice softly asked beside me. I blinked the sleep and blinding sun from my vision.
"Yeah." I said through a breath without thinking. My eyes adjusted to the sunlight billowing in from the tall windows of Derek's loft. I laid comfortably on my side, my hands lightly grasping onto the soft, navy sheets. My eyes trailed up, finding Derek laying next to me, a dark comforter resting halfway up his shirtless chest. His skin was whole again, the gashes gone as if they hadn't been there in the first place. A rush of anxiety washed over me. It wasn't the typical post dream anxiety either, it was something completely different this time. It was the realization I was in bed with Derek and we were both minimally clothed. It was the realization that after years of knowing each other, my pent up feelings came to a head and we had slept together. Sure, we had kissed. On multiple occasions. But now as I laid next to him in nothing but my own skin, a worry crept up my neck. Did I just make a mistake and ruin what we—whatever the hell we had—was? With my head pressed against the pillow, I peaked up at him through my lashes.
"Not the way I was hoping you'd wake up." Derek lightly chuckled, a hint of a smile lifting his lips. My eyes narrowed. There was something different about him. His face looked...lighter. More at ease. Almost...happy.
"Are you smiling?" I choked on a laugh in disbelief. The perturbation in my chest lessened, my heart swelling in its place. "Maybe I did hit my head harder than I thought."
"You're hilarious." Derek rolled his eyes playfully.
"I'll be here all week." I grinned.
"Is that a promise?" Derek asked, his voice low. My cheeks tinted pink as I stifled the smile that dared to grow across my face. I sat up in the bed, noticing the black lace bra thrown carelessly on the nightstand beside the two bourbon glasses. My eyes widened and I quickly snatched the garment from the side table. "Was there anything new? With the dream?" Derek wondered as I clasped the bra on.
"I was back at the school. Again. None of it makes sense it's like some garbled mess." I shook my head. My eyes scanned the room, noticing the piles of clothes, both mine and Derek's, strewn across the loft floor. I could feel my cheeks redden.
"Oh god," I muttered, turning to Derek as he straightened up in bed beside me, his body now alert and tense. "Scott's gonna kill me."
An unexpected toothy smile broke out across Derek's face as he let out a hearty laugh. "Hayley."
"Oh god, he's going to kill you first." I shook my head, looking back over to him.
"Hayley." He repeated, cupping my blushing cheek with one of his hands. His green eyes burrowed into mine and I could feel my heart swell once more, a warm feeling spanning across my chest. I felt bare, even more naked than I had been when I was actually naked. "It'll be okay."
"But—"
"You and I both know he can't do that." He smirked, his thumb swiping against my cheek. His expression turned softer as he leaned in, his face growing close to mine. "And if he can, it was worth it." He whispered. A smile broke across my face as I stifled a giggle.
"It was nice knowing you." I whispered back. Derek's lips pressed against mine, the heat of his body radiating onto me. We tumbled back into the mattress, our lips moving in sync.
"Derek." A tired, husky voice called, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps. "What, what happened—oh." The two of us shot up in bed, finding Boyd walking down the spiral staircase and freezing as his wide eyes fell on us. I scrambled to pull the covers above my chest.
"Boyd." Derek and I said in unison.
"Oh." Boyd repeated, standing in shock.
"You're up." Derek responded, finding himself at a loss for words. My eyes stayed wide as I stared at the Beta, who I hadn't seen in over four months. Not that I had thought much about us being reunited, but this had not been the first un-wolfed meet up I thought I'd have with him.
"Yeahhhh." He elongated, his gaze avoided looking towards either of us. "I can see I missed a lot since I've been gone." I pulled the comforter taught against my body. "I'll be upstairs."
"Boyd wait—" I called, but to no avail the teen was rushing back up the staircase. "Welcome back!" I defeatedly called. I grimaced, looking over to Derek who pursed his lips.
"Yup, Scott's definitely going to kill us." He nodded. I exhaled an exaggerated breath, tossing myself back down into the mattress. I dramatically threw the covers over my head, not hearing the buzzing of my phone with a text from Stiles that read that Heather was dead.
☾☾☾
"Human sacrifices." I repeated in a monotone voice, my brows raised as Stiles paced my room anxiously.
"I know how it sounds, I know."
"So you know it sounds crazy?" I slowly nodded, looking at Scott for backup. He looked away, rubbing a hand behind his neck.
"Heather. The guy Lydia found at the pool. The girl in the woods. They were all virgins! All strangled with a garrote."
"Human virgin sacrifices." I blinked several times. I loudly sighed. "Scott, help me out here."
"I..." Scott shrugged. "Just hear him out."
"Oh my God." I whispered in frustration. "Stiles, think about what you're saying. Three random people that aren't connected whatsoever. And because they all haven't gotten laid, now they're virgin sacrifices? I'm agreeing with you that it doesn't have a werewolf aspect to the killing but virgin sacrifices?"
"You're really having a hard time grasping virgin sacrifices? You literally are a real life That's So Raven." I rolled my eyes at Stiles' comment.
"Really?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
"It's a pattern, Hayley. You've got to see that! And you've got to see why I'm freaking out here! Virgin! Hello!" He threw his arms up. "I'm going to be sacrificed because a lack of game! I need to find someone to have sex with like yesterday!"
"Don't look at me." I threw my hands up.
"Okay so you're okay with us dying as virgin human sacrifices." Stiles pursed his lips. I looked away, guilty as memories from last night flashed before my eyes. "Someones got to take one for the team."
"I'll take my chances."
"Maybe if you were there last night you would have saw that they were all killed the exact same way. Where even were you?" Stiles asked.
I swallowed hard, knowing Scott would be able to catch if I lied. "Derek and I were talking, I fell asleep after we dropped Cora off." It wasn't a total lie.
"In what world—"
"Scott!" Mom yelled from downstairs. "Come help with the groceries!" Scott groaned, looking back and forth between Stiles and I.
"Hold on, Mom." He called back.
"Today!" She yelled. Scott sighed, exiting the room and rushing down the stairs, leaving a frustrated Stiles and I to our lonesome.
"I'm sorry about Heather. I really am, Stiles." Stiles opened his mouth to respond but couldn't find the words. "I don't say this to be mean, I don't. But do you think maybe you're stretching this theory? Because of Heather?"
"No! It's not stretching when it's happened three times." I sighed, not fully on board with the human sacrifice theory. "And what were you really doing last night, Hayley? I really needed you."
"I told you before, we were just talking."
"Derek doesn't talk."
"Maybe he just doesn't like you." I suggested. Stiles rose a brow, which was beginning to wear me down. "Okay fine, let's say I'm on board with the human sacrifice theory. What's the next step?"
"It—well, I haven't really got that far."
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"Thanks for coming in, Kyle. We'll give you a call when we get the results, okay?" Deaton assured as he trailed into the clinic lobby with a brunette teenager at his side. "Just leave your best contact number with Hayley over here."
"Sounds good. Thanks, Doc." The teen, Kyle, smiled as he held a scruffy dog in his grasps. "Good boy, you did a great job." He cooed to the pup. Deaton tossed a file onto the front desk where I sat.
"How'd it go, Bullet?" I smiled, flipping through the file.
"He says he's a trooper." The teen smiled, fluffing the dogs fur. The pup licked his owners hand. I pulled out a yellow sticky note and pressed it on the top of Bullet's manilla folder.
"Alright, Kyle. I'll give you a call when the Doctor gets the results. What's the best number?"
"916-552-8896." I quickly scribbled the number down. "Hate to be one of those guys but call me as soon as you hear anything. I worry about this little guy." After thanking the teen, he exited the clinic and went on his way. I popped my headphones in, starting the onslaught of leftover paperwork.
Finalizing and inputting Bullet's information in the computer made me lose track of time. It hadn't been until Scott emerged from the backroom and walked outside without a word that I had come up for air. My brows scrunched together.
"Scott?" I called, knowing he could still very well hear me outside. I paused my music, taking out one of my headphones as I expected him to immediately come back inside. I had been wrong, and he entered back into the clinic after what seemed like an eternity. But this time, he came inside carrying a dog in his hands. I squinted my eyes, recognizing the dog.
"What are you doing with Bullet?" I asked. Scott seemed perplexed, worry growing on his features.
"His owner. He's gone."
"Gone?" I repeated.
"Yeah..." Scott shook his head in disbelief. "I just went around the whole building. He's not anywhere."
"He didn't seem like the kind of guy to abandon his dog." I frowned.
"He just about cried when Deaton gave the dog a shot. And it's not just Bullet. His car's here too."
"And you looked everywhere?" I asked. Scott nodded.
"It's like he just disappeared into thin air."
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The following day, I found myself leaning against Derek's car in the school parking lot with my arms crossed tightly over my chest. School had yet to start, and barely anyone had been on the grounds. But Derek had insisted on checking on Ms. Blake after the traumatizing events she had incurred.
I, on the other hand, just opted to leave her alone and pretend none of it happened.
Yet here I was, an hour before school started watching Derek emerge from the building.
"So? Did you threaten to rip her throat out with your teeth if she said anything?" I smirked, pushing myself off the car.
"No." Derek rolled his eyes.
"Did you just give the typical Derek death stare? That may have just done the job."
"Typical Derek death stare?" Derek rose a brow.
"Yeah, like the one you give Stiles any times he's within five feet of you."
"I just checked up on her, Hayley." I frowned. "What? She's scared. Just like you were when you found out about us."
"I wasn't scared." I defended with a lie. "That was different. That was my brother. And besides, I don't like her."
"And that's because?"
"Because...because. I don't know, it's just a gut feeling."
"Just like you didn't like me when you met me." I opened my mouth to protest Derek's words but soon decided against it.
"Whatever." I mumbled, pulling out my phone to see if I had any missed messages. I frowned, reading a message from Deaton.
"What's going on?" Derek asked. I looked up, confused. "You're checking your phone a lot. You're worried."
I shook my head, sliding my phone back into my jeans. "It's stupid. This guy came into the clinic last night with his dog and after he left, Scott found the guys car and dog outside. It was like he just disappeared."
"Maybe an emergency?"
I shrugged. "I checked in with Deaton to see if he ever came back to pick up the dog and he still hasn't."
"I'm sure he'll turn up." Derek supported. My face contorted, unconvinced. "What?"
"I got to preface this with that it's Stiles idea..."
Derek crossed his arms over his chest. "I already don't like where this is going."
"The guy at the pool Lydia found. He was killed with something called a garrote. It wasn't a werewolf that killed him." Derek looked at me inquisitively, waiting for me to elaborate. "They found Stiles' friend Heather and some girl in the woods killed the same way. They all disappeared too. Stiles think they're..." I paused.
"Thinks they're what?"
"Human sacrifices." Derek lifted a brow. "Okay, specifically virgin human sacrifices." Queue the signature Derek Hale death stare.
"And you agree with him?"
"No—God no. This isn't some secret cult. I just think somethings off." Derek nodded in understanding.
"I got to get back to Cora."
"How is she?"
"Still healing."
"And you?" I noticed the slight tense of Derek's muscles.
"I still don't believe she's back." His eyes avoided my gaze.
"Go. Spend time with your sister." I smiled with a nod. Derek stepped forward, pressing his forehead against mine. He gently kissed my lips.
"Try not to kill your teacher." He quietly chided.
"No promises." I whispered back. As the two of us split and Derek emerged into his car and I walked towards the school, an uneasy deja-vu like feeling spread across my chest like wildfire. I turned back to him, watching the car drive away as the feeling grew into a gnawing at my stomach.
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The following period, I grabbed my English textbook and a copy of Metamorphasis from my locker, and joined the stream of students in the hall. As I rounded the corner of the English wing, my eyes landed on a group of ROTC students huddled together staring at their phones with concern. A pair of high heels clicking against the linoleum joined the hushed whispers floating through the air. Two classrooms down from me, Ms. Blake emerged from her classroom. Her expression as she laid eyes on me was one similar to a baby deer in headlights. The two of us froze in our spots as we noticed each other. I debated what to do, should I have said hi?
Don't make it weird, Hayley. But how could I not? She saw Derek. She was the Betas. It was a miracle she hadn't seen Scott and Isaac. But what was to say she wouldn't figure Scott out with me being associated so close to Derek?
The brunette tightly pursed her lips, looking like she was debating whether or not to speak with me more than a teacher-ly hello. That was the last thing I wanted. A cringe blew through me as she hesitantly called out my name.
Bzzzzz.
Saved by the bell, I thought as my phone buzzed in my pocket. I grabbed it at record speed, hardly seeing Scott's picture flash across the front by the time I swiped the call to answer.
"I know you didn't finish cross country that quickly. Need your inhaler or something?" I joked.
"Did you have any dreams last night?" Scott immediately asked.
"Uh, no actually."
"No weird feelings? No weird premonitions?"
"No—Scott, what's the problem?"
"It's Kyle. Bullet's owner." Scott announced, dread in his voice. A ghostly wave goosebumps trialed up my neck. I could feel the energy around me shift, like I knew what he was going to say next. "He's dead."
I swallowed hard. "How do you know?"
"Well for one, I'm looking at his body." My face paled.
"Where are you?"
I made it to the cross country track within ten minutes. My chest heaved for air as I pushed past the crowds of students and approached the crime scene.
"Move." I muttered to the crowd, pushing myself to the front. I'd regretted it almost immediately. A wave of nausea rushed through my body as I stood mere feet from the body. The rusty mell of blood wafted up my nose. My body stiffened, swallowing the bile in my throat. Kyle's head hung lifelessly, his body only being held up with a rope that tied him to a thick tree. The rope was imbedded into his neck, slicing through the flesh. Dried blood had crusted from his ears down to his neck, down the front of his clothing. He wore the same outfit he had last night, except now it was covered in blood. I took a step closer, squinting my eyes at the rope around his mauled neck. Except, the closer I got, it didn't look like a rope.
"Is that a..." I whispered.
"Dog leash? Yeah." Stiles responded, his lips pursed as he approached my side with Scott and Isaac in tow.
"Oh my God."
"This doesn't have any familiarity to you? This wasn't your last dream?" Stiles asked.
I shook my head. "It wasn't him."
"Hey! Get out of the way! Get back!" Sheriff Stilinski demanded as he approached the crime scene, pushing students out of the way. "Get this area cornered off before they trample every piece of evidence." Another deputy began yelling for everyone to back up.
"Get these kids out of here!" Sheriff demanded to his other deputies. Stiles rushed up to his father, inching him closer to the body and pointing at the leash embedded in Kyle's neck.
"Dad, just come here, look. Look, look at it. It's the same as the others, you see?"
"Yeah, I see that. Do me a favor. Go back to school, yeah?" Stiles hesitated at his father's demand. "Coach, can you give us a hand here?"
Coach Finstock appeared beside me, yelling out to the remaining onlookers. "You heard the man! Nothing to see here! Probably just some homeless kid."
"Coach." Scott sighed.
"Yeah?"
"He was a senior." Scott informed. Coach Finstock let out a heavy breath, pressing a hand against his mouth.
"He wasn't on the team was he?"
"Jesus Christ." I whispered, looking over to Scott who just shook his head. Before we could react, a female scream pierced the air.
"Kyle!" A blonde girl wailed as she approached Kyle's bloody body. "Oh God, Kyle!" A female deputy held her back as she crumpled into her arms, letting out mixtures of sobs and screams. Beside her, the two twin Alpha's hovered, staring at the the body in shock. The two looked over to each other, fear passing over their features briefly. Sherriff Stilinski ordered Scott, Stiles, and Isaac and I to go, and this time Stiles' didn't protest.
"Did you see the way the twins looked at him?" Isaac sneered as we walked away from the scene.
"Yeah, you mean like they had no idea what happened?" Stiles retorted.
"No, no. They knew." Isaac disagreed.
"I'm with Stiles on this, Isaac. They looked confused. I don't think they did it."
"The kid was strangled with a garrote, alright? Am I the only one recognizing the lack of werewolfitude in these murders?"
"Oh you think it's a coincidence they turn up and then people start dying?"
"Well no, but I still don't think it's them."
"Don't you think there'd be more claw marks if it was them? More throat ripped out and not strangled with a dog leash?" I asked. We stopped walking.
"Scott?" Isaac asked, hoping the teen would back him up. "How 'bout you?" Stiles crossed his arms tightly over his chest.
"I don't know yet." Scott hesitated.
"You don't know yet." Stiles echoed.
"Well, he's got a point." Scott suggested. "Seriously, dude. Human sacrifices?"
"Okay maybe let's drop the human sacrifices idea. Maybe it's just some lunatic on a rampage. A human murder rampage." I offered. Stiles looked between Scott and I and blinked several times.
"Really, guys? You go to sleep and magically dream up what's going to happen the next day." Stiles turned to face Scott. "And your eyes turn into yellow glow sticks, okay? Hair literally grows from your cheeks and then will immediately disappear. And if I were to stab you right now, it would just magically heal. But you two are having trouble grasping human sacrifices?"
Scott heavily sighed. "That's a good point too."
"I don't care. They killed that kid, they killed the girl that saved me. And I'm going to kill them too." Isaac hissed before stalking off.
"Isaac." I called after him. He ignored me and continued to walk out of view. I turned to Scott and shook my head. "This is bad."
"We've got human sacrifices on our hands, Hayley! No shit this is bad!" Stiles exclaimed.