I woke up with a gasp. A sharp pain quickly seemed to spread through my arm. It was a pain that I had never experienced as I felt as like something was burning through my veins.
Sitting up in the dark I listened for my brother's snoring in the building, but I heard nothing but a deafening silence. Standing I began to pace in my room until I finally heard the doors of the loft burst open and my brother's erratic heartbeat as he stumbled in.
Rushing to the door I was able to catch Derek before he collapsed onto the floor. Even in the darkness I could see the blood that stained his shirt. I couldn't even be angry at the fact that he had left in the middle of the night. Probably trying to search for the alpha again.
Suddenly the pain that had woken me up made sense. It was our pack connection that told me that he was in danger.
"Derek." I said in a panic as I pulled his arm to examine it a familiar scent taking over all of my senses, it was a scent that was even stronger than the blood. "Derek it's laced with wolfsbane."
He didn't even get a chance to reply before he passed out. Turning on the lights I pulled Derek up and moved him onto the couch where I could get a closer look at the wound. But as I removed his jacket and pushed his sleeve up I couldn't help but feel horrified by the wound. The bullet was still imbedded into his skin. His veins were viable and turning a deep shade of purple.
But I pushed away the fear as I rushed into the bathroom to grab a pair of tweezers and rubbing alcohol. I truly had no idea what I was doing as I poured alcohol onto the wound before pulling the bullet our of his arm. I would only hope that it would be enough and that he would naturally begin to heal himself. But it quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to be the case.
Taking a closer look at the bullet I had no doubt about who did this.
The Argents. Their family seal imprinted into the silver bullet that had been laced with wolfsbane.
I sat across my brother, having the irrational thought that if I stepped away from him for even one second something would go wrong. The night seemed to slip away into the early afternoon in an almost painful way.
"You missed school." Derek stated as he woke up from his sleep, I spent all day watching over him. I thought removing the bullet would be enough to help him heal on his own, but I was wrong. The infection continued to slowly spread from the bullet wound, and with every passing second my dread continued to grow.
"I wasn't going to leave you here alone." I replied in disbelief that school would be the first thing on his mind. It was definitely the last thing on mine.
"Still, you shouldn't be missing school." He continued to argue, causing me to chuckle in disbelief.
"What's important right now is finding a way to help you." I reminded, as I handed him a glass of water. Even if I had gone to school I wouldn't have been able to do anything but worry. And if I would have been able to not worry the own numbing pain that I felt wouldn't have let me get through the day.
My pain that seemed to be connected with my brothers was like numb feeling. It was like a ghost, a pain that I was there one moment and disappeared the next.
"We need Scott's help." Derek declared the next morning as he sat at the edge of the bed. He was already incredibly pale and was showing no signs of healing. I could feel him getting weaker and I was starting to get consumed by fear. I couldn't lose my brother, without him I would have nothing.
"What could he possibly do to help?" I snapped irritated that he would even think of Scott. All Scott would be able to do was complain and I knew how Scott felt about Derek. He hated my brother because he blamed the bite on him. He wouldn't help us.
"I got shot by an Argent and he is the only person who is involved with one." He reasoned and I sighed realizing that he was right. I nodded and helped him up from the couch. We both had to be incredibly desperate if we had to go to Scott McCall for help.
Derek took the keys from me and headed towards the driver side of the car but I quickly snatched them back. "No way. You are in no condition to drive."
"I'm not going to let you drive my car." Derek countered as he held on to his arm trying to mask the pain he was in.
"Derek don't be an idiot. You can barely stand."
"I'll manage." My brother replied stubbornly.
"Get in the passenger seat." I ordered. He tried to stare me down and when he realized I wasn't going to back down he made his way to the opposite side of the car and got in. Normally I would have been satisfied that I got Derek to do what I wanted, but considering the situation we were in it wasn't an emotion that was accessible to me at the moment.
It wasn't until I started to drive down the road that I felt a fresh wave of nausea and pain wash over me. But I quickly ignored the feeling not wanting Derek to worry or even realize that his pain was also effecting me.
I raced over to the high school, at this point the only thing I was worried about was Scott refusing to help, especially with us threatening him and his annoying sidekick all the time. "Okay I'll go find him you stay in here." I ordered as I parked the car in front of the school and quickly scrambled out of it. I was about to open the door to the history class I knew Scott and Stiles were in when I heard the sound of someone being pushed into a locker. I groaned and ran down the hall to find Jackson thrown against the lockers by my brother.
Derek began to stumble his way towards me as I ran up to him and slung his arm around my shoulder. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I exclaimed in a hushed tone, only to find that he wasn't even paying attention to me because he was listening in on someone. Curious I began to listen in though the crowds when I heard Allison and Lydia in a nearby hallway.
"So, what are you saying?" Allison questioned sounding genuinely confused.
"I'm just saying, you know, make sure he covers up." Lydia causally replied. "Hello, Snow White, I'm talking about a condom."
I rolled my eyes at the direction this conversation was taking, and it made me wonder why my brother was even listening in on this, unless there was something I missed.
"You're actually friends with those two?" Derek asked me in disbelief as he looked up at me from his hunched over position.
"Now really isn't the time for you to criticize who my friends are." I stated as I fixed one of his arms around my shoulder and began to drag him towards the doors. "Come on, the bell is going to ring any second now." I helped him walk as fast as I could but then the bell rang and the halls quickly swarmed with students eager to get home. I walked over to one of the nearby benches outside and helped Derek sit down. "I swear if you move...I will declaw you."
Derek rolled his eyes leaning back against the bench so I took that as a sign of agreement. I looked down the street to find Scott unlocking his bike so I started to push my way through the crowd to get to him I'd only taken a few steps when I heard cars honking behind me, I closed my eyes already knowing what I was going to find if I turned around. I slowly looked back to find Derek standing in front of a familiar blue Jeep.
At this point I wanted to scream in frustration and pull my own hair out by how stubborn my brother was being. I understood the feeling of not wanting to rely on other people for help, but now he was acting irrationally.
Scott reached Derek at the same time I did and we both bent down. "I can not stay put can you?" I said angrily.
"What the hell? What are you doing here?" Scott exclaimed at the same time, as he looked around the parking lot. He was clearly more worried about what the others around us would think than my brothers current condition. I was aware of all the curious glances in our direction but I couldn't care less what they thought.
"I was shot."
"He's not Iooking so good, dude." Stiles stated once he finally got out of his car.
"Why aren't you healing?" Scott asked before he turned towards me. "Why isn't he healing?"
"He can't." I replied thing to keep myself as calm as possible. "It was...its was a different kind of bullet.
"A silver bullet?" Stiles questioned with obvious excitement.
"No, you idiot." Derek replied before he groaned in pain, I started to bite my lower lip in worry because I could feel him getting weaker.
"Wait." Scott said softly as he thought about something. "That's what she meant when she said you had 48 hours."
I immediately looked up at Scott, with a hundred questions running through my head. "What? Who said 48 hours?"
"The one who shot Derek." Scott said looking down at my brother. Derek closed his eyes unsuccessfully masking his pain, but when he opened them they shifted into their blue color. Suddenly I felt as mine involuntarily shifted too.
"What are you two doing? Stop that." Scott said looking between my brother and I.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you." Derek said as he got a hold of his arm again.
"He can't." I finished of when I suddenly felt someone pull me up to my feet. When I was on my feet I pulled out of Stiles' grasp but he pulled me towards his car.
"Will you calm down I'm trying to help you." He replied as he helped me to the back seat of his Jeep. "Why is this affecting you like this?"
"I don't know." I said as I got control and was able to shift my eyes back to their natural blue color. "This has never happened to me before."
"Well, stop it cause its freaking me out." Stiles exclaimed, as Scott helped Derek into the passenger seat of the car and began to have his own discussion with my brother. "Is it hurting you?"
"I... I can feel his pain." I replied trying to clear my thoughts. "I can feel him getting weaker."
"Why should I help you?" I overheard Scott ask causing me to focus my attention back on Derek.
"Because you need me." He simply replied.
"Fine, I'II try. Hey, get him out of here." Scott ordered Stiles as he continued to look around the parking lot, no doubt making sure Allison was no where near the scene. Stiles groaned as he got in the car and slammed his door shut.
"I hate you for this so much." Stiles mumbled before he started his car and drove out of the school parking lot. I knew that if there was anyone who hated my brother more than Scott it was Stiles. And I could feel Stiles' reluctance to help us.
Stiles was driving down the street as Derek pulled his jacket off. I could feel the heat radiating off of him from the fever that he was experiencing, and I could feel the pain spreading across his body. It was a feeling that I had never experiences before and the frustration of not knowing was making me want to scream.
"Come on." Stiles said as he tried calling Scott again with no luck. "Try not to bleed out on my seats, okay?" He exclaimed in annoyance, not even looking towards Derek's direction. "We're almost there."
"AImost where?" My brother muttered as he attempted to sit up straight, his eyes shinning their werewolf blue.
"Your house." Stiles replied bitterly as if my brother's question was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.
Derek's pain became anger in an instant and as he attempted to sit up I just pushed him back down. "What? No, you can't take me there."
"I can't take you to your own house?" Stiles asked in amazement as he pulled up on the side of the road.
"Not when I can't protect myself." Derek replied in annoyance.
"I can protect us." I stated slightly offended that Derek didn't think I was capable of it. He had trained me after all, I was just as strong as he was even if he had more experience.
"You are not going up against Hunters on you're own." My brother stated with a growl, telling me that I really had no choice on the subject even if he was the one that had poison running through his veins killing him slowly. He could barely stand on his own, yet he was giving orders as if he were in charge. "We have to go somewhere else."
"What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet?" Stiles questioned what I've been fearing this whole time. If Scott was with Allison he would be too swept up with Allison to even think about my brother. It was a frustrating thought, but he was currently the only person who could save Derek. "Hmm? Are you dying?"
"He's not dying." I immediately answered. I was determined not to lose my brother, because without him I have no one. I couldn't loose the only person that I cared about, the only person I had left. And I knew it was something that he was currently working about too. He raised me and in many ways he was more a father than a brother to me.
"I have a Iast resort." Derek replied as he began to roll up the sleeve of his shirt to take a look at the bullet wound. The veins in his arm were a bright blue and his skin was alarmingly pale.
"What do you mean? What Iast resort?" Stiles asked as he looked over at Derek and immediately began to gag. Now it was Stiles who looked pale and moments away from vomitting as he looked away from my brother clearly repulsed by what he saw. "Oh, my God! What is that?" He said as he continued to make a series a gag noises.
"Here let me see." I said as I got a hold of my brother's wrist until Stiles pulled my hand away. I only got a small glimpse of the veins in his arm, they were a bright blue and his skin was alarmingly pale.
"Don't do that." Stiles said looking away beginning to gag again. "It could be contagious. You know what, you should probably get that checked out."
"That's what I was trying to do." I countered as I glared at him.
"Fine then next time I'll let you get some crazy infectious disease." Stiles said as turned around challenging me, I could feel how scared he was too. That his outburst were just fear, but my anger was beginning to overshadow my own fear.
"Fine!" I quickly replied as a small growl escaped my lips.
Surprisingly Stiles didn't flinch as he turned back looking forwards and crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine!"
"Start the car. Now." Derek ordered, the tension in car making it difficult to breathe. We were wasting time arguing. It was time we didn't have as every second wasted meant the poison was only spreading closer to Derek's heart.
"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you Iook." Stiles began to exclaim as he waved his arms around. I slouched back into the seat as I waited for him to finish his little rant, my head felt like it was about to burst. But I was sure that it was what my brother was feeling and he was unknowingly sharing that pain with me. Or maybe it was me who needed to find a way to not feel that same pain. "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.
"Start the car, or I'm gonna rip your throat out with my teeth." Derek threatened, and Stiles only shook his head in disbelief.
"Wow, you guys are related." Stiles stated as he looked back at me and I only gave him an annoyed look.
"Stiles will you please just start the car." I surprisingly found myself pleading. Even Stiles seemed surprised by the desperation in my voice as he turned forward again.
Stiles groaned before he turned on the car and drove out into the street again. "Fine. But only because you asked nicely." He said under his breath.
As Stiles drove I had to fight the urge to keep my eyes open. The pain was becoming unbearable and I wasn't sure how much longer I would be able to take it. If the pain I felt was hellish I didn't even want to imagine how much worse it was for Derek. We were running out of time and irritatingly all Derek and I could do was rely on Scott and Stiles to get us our of this.