Sorry for the late uploads :( but I hope you really like this chapter! I really enjoyed writing this one and it's super long! I really hope you guys like it...especially the bonus POV at the end ;D
Chapter Six
Halloween was just around the corner and the autumn air was refreshing compared to the heat of the summer. Fall was my favorite weather because I could walk in Derek's woods and see the colors of the leaves change into a variety of colors. However, this year, I was too busy helping out indoors than actually helping myself in the outdoor weather.
This year, the Derek, Travis, and Zane, thought it best if they had a little social gathering in the Institution for a Halloween party. They thought it was the best idea for everyone to get to know each other and mingle and so they naturally, they made Pristine, Tristan, and I the leaders to make this happen since we were all related to the Big Three.
I was skeptical about working with Tristan at first but I realized as long as I do my part and avoid any contact with him it would go smoothly. We had gathered a few people and now we were scattered around the enormous gymnasium, putting up the decorations for tomorrow's party. Orange and black filled the gymnasium and they even make a fake cobweb. It was starting to look well put together.
"Do you need help with that?" a voice called out in a teasing tone. I was on a ladder putting up the party strings when I looked down to see Pristine at the bottom of the ladder. I taped the last one on and climbed swiftly down, hitting the floor with the soles of my shoes.
"All done," I said easily, brushing off the invisible dust on my gray hoodie.
"Looks like you got a lot done," Pristine said, looking up at the decorations I had just put up.
"Yeah, everyone's been working pretty hard though," I said, pointing to the few people who had helped out. I don't know what made them want to help in the first place but I was glad that they were helping without any fights or arguments.
"Hey, so we actually forgot to buy the cups and plates for the refreshments," Pristine said, suddenly nervous. She looked at her feet a couple times before looking back at me. "Can you go with me to the party store?"
"Yeah sure," I said, trying to make my voice sound cool and calm but underneath the exterior, I was excited that Pristine had asked me of all people.
We took Pristine's car because apparently she didn't trust anyone's driving but her own. After five minutes in the car with her it didn't make sense why she thought her driving was any better.
"Pristine, you are a horrible driver." Pristine suddenly jerked to the right, avoiding a car that had abruptly begun to slow down.
"I'm not a horrible driver. They are!" Pristine said, pointing at the car they had just passed.
"Do you even have a license?" I asked, beginning to feel uncomfortable in my seat. I wasn't afraid of crashing because a simple crash wouldn't kill us but it didn't mean I was any less nervous. She swerved another car making the car to honk angrily at us. I bent my head down, slightly embarrassed to be in the car.
"No not yet but I'm learning it from dad," Pristine said, looking at me.
"Pristine, the road!" I yelled and Pristine swerved again, coming close to hitting the man next to us. The man gave us a dirty look and the middle finger but Pristine didn't seem to notice.
"Alright, alright! I know what I'm doing," she said, sounding unsure of herself. She took the next exit and slowed down when she turned into the parking lot of the store. By this time, I was had one hand holding my seat and the other over my seatbelt. If I had a beating heart, it would beat erratically.
"Now I'm sure the paper cups and plates are in the far back of the store. I think Tristan wanted the black and orange ones to go with the Halloween theme," Pristine said as she pushed in the door of party depot.
There was cool wind as we entered the depot and immediately we were surprised with bright colors and costumes hanging on the walls and the aisles. There was so much going on the store that it might take us a while to actually locate what we were looking for. The thing that really bothered me about the store was the costumes. Rows of stereotypical vampire attire and skimpy nurse dresses all lined up at one wall, stretching onward in variety. A hint of the past struck me when I was in my sophomore year just before my discovery with cancer.
I was going to a Halloween party with a bunch of my friends and I was dressed as a vampire with the cape and the fangs and all. It got all the girls swooning especially because it was when the whole Twilight thing was a big hit. I realized the crude irony of it all and turned away from it.
Pristine looked at me worriedly. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I lied. The costumes startled me.
"You know, I was a vampire for Halloween last year," Pristine said with a mischievous look on her face.
"Were you now?" I smirked, crossing my arms across my chest.
"Yeah, I had the whole fang and blood thing going on. I did quite some scaring that night," Pristine laughed, reminiscing about that night.
"Bet your dad went crazy," I laughed, wondering how an Elder would say seeing his daughter dress up like that.
"He went ballistic but my mom thought it was cute and funny," Pristine laughed and then frowned. "She sent a picture to Derek."
"I guess I will have to ask him later if he still has the photo," I smiled with a small wink when Pristine's eyes opened wide.
"No, it's embarrassing!" she said a little too loud. The music was thankfully blaring but she covered her mouth. When I gave her a winning smirk, she punched me in my arm.
I recoiled, although her playful punch had no effect on me but my laugh at her demeanor made the hood of my hoodie fell off, revealing my pale face. I immediately felt exposed and I quickly put it back on and looked away. I hated putting down my hood and the hoodie was always a shell for me to crawl into.
The first few weeks Derek tried to burn my hoodie but I just bought another with his credit card. He did it quite a few times before he finally gave it up. My style since then really hadn't changed. My chucks, jeans, and hoodie was all I needed to feel comfortable and safe.
"Why do you always hide your face like that, Jeremy?" Pristine asked her voice full of innocence and wanting to understand. I began walking down the aisle to find the cups and plates, knowing she would be following.
"Jeremy," Pristine pressed and I felt her fingers grasping the fabric of my hoodie, immediately shooting up sparks of electricity up my arm, making my dead heart warm. What the heck?
I turned around to Pristine but she quickly let go my hoodie. "Um, sorry," she said blushing red and then kept walking, stepping in front of me and avoiding eye contact. Now it was my turn to say something.
"What was that?" I asked, catching up to her in a few strides. Two of her steps was one of my strides.
"Oh, sorry. You know it's getting chilly and dry and whatnot. It was probably static electricity." Pristine didn't look at me and walked faster, making sure there was distance between us. I was getting frustrated and odd being away from her so I caught up to her again, this time using my vampire speed to speed ahead of her and trap her.
Pristine flinched and I felt bad for scaring her like that. This was what preys did before they took in their fill of blood and the action made my stomach jumbled.
"You're hiding something from me," I said, looking at her curiously. What was going inside her head? If only I had Derek's ability to skim through thoughts maybe I could understand her better.
"It's not like you're not hiding anything," Pristine snapped. Her tone surprised both of us and we went into a silence. Have of me felt sorrow because I wanted to please Pristine and know what was bothering her but the other vampire side of me was angry that she was being so frustrating and bringing up my inability to let go of my hoodie.
"Let's just finish this job," I said, finally breaking the silence. Pristine stiffened and then nodded in silence. I turned around so I didn't have to see the look on her face because I knew I would end up apologizing or press her further until she told me what was up. I was sure that static electricity had nothing to do with it but I tried to cool myself down because fighting would solve nothing - another one of Derek's philosophies.
In two minute time, we found the exact color of cups and plates we were looking for and paid before leaving.
"I'm driving," I said, even though I knew it wasn't the time to say it but I really don't think it was safe with her in the car. Pristine tiredly looked at me, her gray eyes swimming with concealed emotion. She reached for her back pocket and tossed me the keys.
The drive back to the school was gloomy and weird. We didn't have a fight really but I could tell she was unhappy. I gave her the space she needed and kept to myself the entire drive back.
When we entered the gymnasium, everyone left except Tristan, Bryon, and some random hunter girl. I think she was in one of my classes but I couldn't remember which one. Tristan and the girl were in a corner blowing up balloons and kissing once in a while. Bryon was putting up some last streamers, looking annoyed at Tristan but gave a sigh of relief when he saw us come in.
"Oh thank the Heavens that you guys are back," Bryon said coming down the ladder. He looked at Pristine weirdly but changed into a cool, placid face all in a split second. "Ah, you brought the cups and plates. Thanks bro."
I gave him the materials and looked around the gymnasium. It looked really nice and all ready for tomorrow night. My attendance wasn't even questionable but I felt nervous about going. I had no group of friends really. I met a lot of people but I didn't belong to one specific group.
"Hey so I think Tristan and that human girl wants to use the gymnasium alone if you know what I mean and I need to do some errands before heading home so I'm going to be the first one to leave, all right?" Bryon said, giving us a smile.
"I'll see you back home later, Pristine," Bryon smiled, giving a small pat on her head. Pristine scowled but said bye. "And I'll see you tomorrow at school, man. Remember, basketball tomorrow during P.E." He gave me a little handshake he and his friends had and then patted my back before going off.
"Well I'm headed off. I do not need to see any of that," Pristine said, looking at where Tristan was making out with the girl. She didn't look that angry but I felt the bitterness coming off of her.
"Hey, can I take you home?"
"I can get home by myself." Pristine didn't say it in a mean demeanor but rather factually.
"I know but I'm just worried about you driving yourself home and it's getting really late," I said cautiously to see her reaction. She didn't look offended.
"Where's your car?" Pristine asked as we both headed out of the school building.
"It's back at home. I hate taking the car," I said, squinting to show my dislike. I didn't see the point in them and I was so used to walking everywhere anyways. "I like walking."
"It takes a more than a few miles if you're actually walking instead of running here," Pristine said, getting into the passenger seat of her Jeep. I turned on the engine and buckled my seatbelt.
"I'll tell you a little secret," I said, bending towards her so I could whisper. "When you walk in the autumn weather, it's like you're flying for a moment. The vivid colors wash away any negative thoughts and when you close your eyes, there's a slight lukewarm wind that blows just in the right direction that when you put your arms out like a bird, you can imagine you are flying."
Pristine closed her eyes as she heard my description of autumn and inhaled deeply, making her breath tickle my nose. She opened her eyes slowly at first but her striking gray never failed to catch my breath.
"Your eyes," she breathed, teasing my nose and now my lips. "They're so green."
Embarrassed, I looked away, bending my head downwards like the loser I felt but she did something I did not expect. I felt her hands, slowly taking off the hood of my hoodie, testing whether or not I would get mad at her but how could I? This weird strong feeling for her made it feel okay to let Pristine do whatever she wants. I felt subjected to her in a way.
"What are you doing?" I whispered, closing my eyes from the exposure.
"Open your eyes, Jeremy." I obliged unable to reject her. Shyly, I opened my eyes but wanted to close them when I saw how close she was to my face. My eyes drooped down to her lips and I began to feel extremely nervous.
"Jeremy," she whispered and I saw how her perfect lips moved into the shape of my name and I had the urge of just leaning a little more forward until we would touch but I didn't. Instead I cleared my throat and pulled back.
For the remainder of the ride, I dared not to look at her, not even a small peak. I didn't know how to feel or what to do. I was so confused and I didn't want to face it.
When we got to her driveway, I parked the car and turned the engine off. There were several cars in the driveway so I guessed her parents were home or maybe they were the Alpha's.
"Thanks for driving me home," Pristine said, suddenly shy. We both got out of the car and I led her to the doorstep. Suddenly, the door opened and there was screaming. I frowned, looking downward to find the source and saw a small little mop of wavy brown hair with big brown eyes.
"Jemmy!" April yelled then wrapped herself around my right leg, squeezing it with all her might. Pristine looked at her cousin embarrassingly.
"April, you can't do that to everyone," Pristine said, giving me an apologetic look. Everything that had happened in the party depot and the car was forgotten for the moment.
"I want to play with Jemmy," April smiled cheekily at me. I watched her as she pouted and opened her eyes even bigger like one of those cartoon characters. Then I knew I couldn't say no.
"Alright, I'll stay," I said, giving up and April yelled in victory, finally getting off my leg and reaching for my hand. "Is that okay with you?" I asked Pristine.
Pristine looked like she was trying to scold April by the way she was looking at her but she turned to me and smiled as if that never happened. "Yeah, sure. I don't think April would let you go anyway."
I followed April in as she pulled me deeper into the house. I already knew the interior of the first floor because of all the parties they always held here. The Alpha's house wasn't as big as the pack house but it was still a large building. Derek explained to me that it had eight rooms so the Alpha could house important guests like Pristine and her family.
"Can we go watch a movie?" April asked, grinning.
"You're going to make us anyways so why not?" Pristine said with a knowing look. I followed them downstairs to the basement where the games and the huge flat screen television were seated. I slumped into the sofa and April followed right after me and held onto my arm. I felt uncomfortable at first but I was extremely flattered that she liked me. It was odd having such kind of affection from a werewolf and I stroked her long hair, moving the extra strand out of her eyes. She beamed at me and jumped off the couch just as fast as she got on.
"Jemmy, what movie do you want to watch?" April asked, bouncing around towards their wide selection of movies.
"You can choose, April," I said, a smile tugging on my face.
"I want to watch this one!" April said, holding a narrative about some gladiator in Rome and his journey to freedom.
"Isn't it a little too gory and violent for you?" I asked uneasily. April was a sweet little girl and should not be watching anything like that.
"I'm a werewolf. I bet I can do worse things than they could ever do," April said, smiling mischievously with all her teeth. I always forgot that April was a werewolf. She was so little and innocent looking that it was kind of hard to accept.
April quickly put in the movie and grabbed a teddy bear off the other couch and ran over to me, sitting at my right. She snuggled with her bear and my arm, her eyes glued to the screen.
"Wow, you're really good with kids," Pristine whispered as the movie started.
"I have a little sister," I said and immediately shut my mouth. What came over me that I dared to even think about Cammie? I closed my eyes, thinking about my little sister screaming and shaking, trying to get to me while my parents dragged her away, leaving me to fend for myself. They left me on the side of the road and moved to another town that very day. I could still hear her screams in my head, the screams that tortured my soul.
"You have a sister? What's her name?" Pristine asked, startled to hear it. I couldn't blame her. Not even Derek knew about my sister which made me wonder why I even told Pristine.
"Yeah, her name is Cammie. She's ten now," I said, trying to forget her green eyes that were a shade darker than mine but we both had the same honey brown hair.
"I didn't know," Pristine whispered. I mean who could have known? I never wanted to tell anyone. I had tried to find her on many occasions but every lead eventually led to a dead end and I couldn't really go outside the city much since I didn't have the provisions to even travel that far. Bus tolls had already taken a lot out of me.
Suddenly, I felt Pristine's hands wrapped around mine, sending me those weird feelings I got. I felt her hand was cold for a werewolf and although my hand wouldn't do much to stop it, I found that I didn't want to let go.
"Do miss her a lot?" Pristine whispered, not wanting to disturb April's movie.
"Yeah, more than anyone could ever imagine," I sighed, not caring anymore whether I had my walls up or not. I felt oddly comfortable with Pristine and I found myself that I liked it...a lot actually.
We grew back into the comfortable silence, letting the movie take us away. I didn't want to think about Cammie and I think Pristine sensed it. After Derek saved me, I really wanted to go find Cammie or at least check up on her to see if she was content and happy but I knew I couldn't. I was weak and vulnerable and Derek, Violet, and I knew that if I let my emotions get in the way during my rehabilitation time, I could come back when I was hungry and out of control and harm her. I still didn't trust myself to go looking for her. Although I was excelling for a vampire who had turned in only a year, I was still not in control at times.
I looked at April who was now leaning all her weight on me. She was fast asleep, her mouth slightly opened and her arms still around my arm and her teddy bear. I sighed, feeling the sense of responsibility over her.
"Goodnight," I whispered to her, kissing her lightly on the head and let myself get lost in the movie before soon, even my eyes began to waver and then fall.
Derek's POV
"I understand that you're worried but don't you think you're getting a little too superstitious?" Lucas asked me when I was almost positively certain.
"Lucas, you know I wouldn't kid around or look lightly on a subject like this," I said, irritated but also wanting them on my side. "The reports I'm getting are all over the southwest side, starting from the border of Mexico and southern California. I've sent my good men out there and I lost signal on all of them. The few I have left reportedly saw rogue werewolves running around the area. We're trying to secure the location right now but there's so much I can do about it."
The past month I had been getting very weird reports back of failed missions and strange disappearances. The news even sparked into Violet's ears that she called me about it. She wanted to go in for herself but I forbade her. I couldn't risk getting her in danger in any way. In a way I felt that she was too young for this even though she was the second oldest creature in this planet.
"Look, Lucas. I think Derek is right. All these disappearance are looking really suspicious," Alexia said, defending me. Finally, someone who agreed.
"Thank you, Alexia. Your support is very much appreciated," I said before sipping the alcoholic beverage they had offered. I wasn't much into drinking but when it came to stressful things like this it was the only human thing that could actually affect us in any way. I felt the cool bitterness of it running down my neck and savored this taste as it relaxed me.
"I can get in contact with the rest of the Elders and one or two of them could do an investigation. It will take around a few days for them to observe and report," Lucas said, negotiating. I wasn't sure if we could waste that much time but maybe I was overanalyzing and being too superstitious about the entire thing. The southwest were always dangerous places where the rogues roamed so it shouldn't have been too surprising.
"Alright," I said, standing up from my seat. Lucas did the same thing as did Alexia. "Oh, and I already contacted Amos if you don't mind." After Grayson had retired from his position, Lucas stepped in as head Elder. It should have been passed down to Amos but he declined, saying that he didn't think he was right for the role. As the head there were much more responsibilities and was more time consuming and no one knew why he wouldn't take it but me. I just wished I could do something about it but I couldn't stop something like this. Even me.
"That's fine," Lucas said smiling. "I do miss my uncle a bit."
"I haven't seen him since the first party," Alexia sighed. "Is he doing alright, Derek?" As usual Alexia was worried about him. She was always worried and concerned for everyone with that big heart of hers.
"Yes, he's fine," I lied easily. I didn't want to tell them the real reason.
"Well good. I guess he would be staying at your home?" Lucas guessed, knowing how close I was with Amos. I nodded and left my glass on the coffee table.
"Well it was a pleasure to talk to you two all alone and away from the publicity for once," I smiled genuinely. It had been quite some time since I had been alone with them. They were both so busy with the Elders and traveling and hosting parties with Zane that I kind of missed being with all of them.
"You're welcomed here any time," Alexia smiled, giving me a light hug. I remembered when she used to give me huge hugs when she was still a bright little teen but now, fully grown and an adult, she was mature and conservative. "Hm, it seems that Jeremy is in the house. I can't believe I didn't smell it before," Alexia said thoughtfully.
I had also felt the presence of Jeremy quite a while ago but I knew he would most likely be with Pristine rather than Bryon. Pristine was trying to restrain herself but she was confused. I was confused at first that why of all people, my Jeremy was chosen as her mate. I'm sure there was a meaning behind all of this but until then, I had to keep it a secret and let Pristine decide what to do with the knowledge.
"He better not be infiltrating with our daughter," Lucas growled possessively.
"No worries, Lucas," I chided him, talking to him as if he was still that little boy he once was. "I don't think Jeremy is actually capable of that." I smiled at the thought of Jeremy. He was too shy and conservative to do anything like that. Maybe that's what made me think it was okay for him to have a lifestyle like this - because he was okay with being alone. He wasn't ever lonely - just observative.
"If he lays one hand on my daughter - "
"Lucas Slade!" Alexia scolded. "Do you not trust Derek at all? And we know Jeremy. We've seen him at parties and how he is with our daughter. If he wasn't a vampire, I'd wish they would be mates."
I almost flinched and a glimpse of emotion leaked from my face before I hid it underneath my facade. I looked at the couple, thankful that their attention wasn't on me anymore.
"Let's not go too far, Alexia," Lucas said, suddenly seeming tired. "Derek, I'll let you know about the Elders' whereabouts as soon as I get any news."
"And until then I will be sending off some more vampires to do some investigation on this issue," I said, going for the door but then I stopped and turned back around. "Lucas...Alexia...I don't feel good about this at all."
With that, I left, opening the door and letting the sound of a movie playing. The sound led me downstairs to the basement where I saw Jeremy, Pristine, and April all sleeping on one couch. Both April and Pristine were leaning against Jeremy's shoulder while his head leaned back on the couch, looking at the ceiling. Alexia and Lucas followed me downstairs and saw all three of them asleep.
"Oh, I really want to take a picture," Alexia smiled, her thoughts somewhere reminiscing a similar scene she had experienced before. She took out her phone and snapped a photo.
The click of the camera shutter made Pristine's and Jeremy's eyes open wide awake. Pristine was the first one to jump from her seat, realizing that she had put her head on Jeremy's shoulder while sleeping.
"Oh my gosh," she said startled. She looked at her parents and then back at me, wishing I would say something to excuse her of her behavior. I only smirked and shrugged which earned me a frown from her.
"D-Derek, what are you doing here?" Jeremy asked, getting up from the couch. He slowly removed himself from the couch and carefully placed April's head on a pillow instead.
"I just had a quick meeting with Lucas and Alexia," I said nonchalantly. I turned to them, amused to see Lucas' mouth in a thin line and smiled one last time to Alexia as a farewell gesture. "I will see you all soon, I hope," I said, before making my leave.
Jeremy quickly followed after me, saying a quick shy good-bye to Pristine and a respectful vampire bow to Lucas and Alexia before running up the stairs to fall in step with me. We led ourselves out and took a walk in the woods, back to our house. It was nice having to walk for ten or so minutes and enjoying the nice autumn weather. I had always loved the autumn weather and showed Jeremy how to appreciate nature and all that it brought us.
I stole a glance at him and he had his eyes closed, thinking about a lot of things and longing for something I couldn't quite see. I couldn't exactly tell what it was and I didn't want to. Not to Jeremy. I didn't want to pry into his head and get whatever information I wanted. I was a heartless person for doing that to other people but in my heart there was a soft spot for Jeremy. He was a troubled, tortured soul and there was nothing - neither money nor luxurious living - I could do about it so I did one thing I could do. I also closed my eyes, looking up at the sky and also longed for something I couldn't have.
*******
HUMAHUMAHUMA...soooo deep Derek
Does anyone remember in the first or second book (I forget) where he was looking up at the sky when he was out on the patio/veranda with Alexia? Harrr, +1,000 points for those who remember. Oh, and there is a reason to Amos' whereabouts and whatnot but you have to read "Legend of Amos and Derek" until the end for you to understand.
Don't forget to comment or vote ;D