Chapter 37: Visionary
Stiles asked Scarlett to go to Derek's loft with him so they can find out when Derek would be back from hiding. Cora's response was to tell the two a story about Peter and Derek hiding in a root cellar when the hunters found them.
"They stayed there for two days. Hiding and waiting." She finished the story. "It's what we were taught to do when hunters found us. Hide and heal."
She turned to look at Stiles and Scarlett as Stiles started talking again, "So is two days standard? Or are we thinking Derek's on an extended getaway?"
Scar lightly hits Stiles on the shoulder and glares at him, "He needs time."
"And why do you care anyway?" Cora asks.
"Because in the last few weeks, my best friend almost killed himself, his boss nearly got ritually sacrificed, a girl I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed, Boyd was killed by Alphas- do you really need me to go on? Because I can. For like an hour." Stiles rants.
"You think Derek can do anything about it?"
"Since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it."
"Stiles, it's not that easy and you know it. It never is. He's going to need help. He can't do anything without the rest of us." Scarlett says.
"I don't even know if he can do anything." Cora whispers, "There's something about him now. He wasn't like this when I knew him."
"Well, what was he like?" Stiles asks.
"A lot like Scott actually." Peter says as he walks down the stairs. Stiles jumps as he turns to the werewolf who continues, "A lot like most teenagers. Unbearably romantic. Profoundly narcissistic. Tolerable really only to other teenagers."
"So what changed him?"
"The same thing that changes a lot of young men. A girl."
"Some girl broke his little heart and that's why he's like that?"
"Stiles!" Scarlett scolds. Stiles throws his hands up in mock surrender.
"The details are a bit more textured. You remember before Derek was an Alpha his eyes were blue? Do you know why some werewolves have blue eyes?" Peter quizzes.
"I thought it was a genetics thing." Stiles shrugs.
"Genetics? Come on, Stiles. Don't reduce our nature to something as boring and mechanical as DNA. You want to know what changed Derek? Then you need to know what changed the color of his eyes." Peter states.
They sit down as Peter starts telling the teens a story of Derek and his first love. A quiet girl named Paige. She was a musician who caught Derek's eye at school one day. Rain was pounding down on the window as Peter was telling the story. "So if Derek was a sophomore back then how old was he?" Stiles asks.
"He was probably about 16. That's how old we were as sophomore's." Scarlett says, shrugging.
Stiles nods then looks at Peter, "How old were you? How old are you now?" Stiles asks.
"Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think." Peter vaguely answers.
Scarlett narrows her eyes in confusion as Stiles says, "That was frustratingly vague." He turns to Cora, "How old are you?"
"Seventeen." She answers.
Stiles turns back to Peter, "See? That's an answer."
"Seventeen the way you would count it in your years." Cora continues.
"What?" Scarlett asks, even more confused by that response.
"Forget I asked." Stiles says, shaking his head. "What happened to Derek and Cello Girl?"
"Her name was Paige." Peter corrects. Cora, Stiles and Scarlett exchange looks at his odd tone.
It abruptly disappears as he continues, "What do you think happened? They were teenagers. One minute it was 'I hate you. Don't talk to me.' The next it was frantic groping in any dark corner they could manage to be alone for five minutes." Scarlett scrunched her face up, not wanting to picture young Derek being sexual. "Their favorite dark corner was an empty distillery outside of Beacon Hills."
"Alright, hold up." Stiles stops the older werewolf, "How do you know all this? You just said they were alone."
"And back then I wasn't just Derek's uncle. I was his closest friend. His most trusted confidante. That's how I knew."
"Your telling me Derek didn't have better friends?" Scar asks. Stiles mouth twitches up to a smile as Peter glares at Scarlett, "Right, sorry. I just assumed that you were always a sociopath. Please continue the story." Scar waves her hand gesturing for him to continue.
Peter closes his eyes for a brief moment and sighs. Once his eyes open back up he continues the story, telling them about the meeting of Alpha's and how the hunter's killed someone in Ennis's pack. As he's telling the story, he traces a spiral on the window. "Our mark for vendetta. One that wouldn't end until Ennis was satisfied."
"You guys really take the revenge thing to a whole new level, don't you?" Stiles asks.
"It's not just revenge. Losing one of your pack isn't like a death in the family. It's like losing a limb." Cora states.
"For you, Scarlett, it will probably be worse." Peter adds.
"Because I'm a Zeta?" Scar questions, raising an eyebrow. Peter nods, "Well let's hope no one in the pack dies then."
"Anyways, they wouldn't even let him see the body." Peter continues.
"I don't get it." Cora says. "Why are we hearing the Ennis revenge epic? What does any of that have to do with Derek?"
"Everything. Don't you know how these things happen? It's never one moment. It's a confluence of events. A tragedy of timing. Personally, I looked at Ennis's circumstance and saw a profound loss. Derek saw something different. He saw opportunity." Peter replies.
"To do what?" Stiles asks.
"To always be with her."
"He wanted Paige to get the bite?" Scarlett questions, a look of realization crossing her face.
Peter nods. "The thing is, though. He had this constant fear. He was obsessing over it. Thinking about it. All night. All day. It was always on his mind."
He pauses for a moment, "I kept telling him not to do it. But every day the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced. You know how teenagers are. I bet even he blames me now. He's probably convinced himself that it was all my idea."
Scarlett instantly rolls her eyes, the only thought running through her head is that he probably did put it in Derek's head. As the story continues, pack Emissary gets brought up.
Cora starts to explain the role of the Emissary, "But they're mostly a secret in the pack. Sometimes only the Alpha knows who the Emissary is. Derek and I never knew anything about Deaton."
"Or his sister, Morrell." Peter adds.
"She's an Emissary too?" Stiles asks.
"For the Alpha pack."
"Our guidance counselor? Why the hell don't you people tell me this stuff? I said some very personal things to her."
Scarlett rests her hand on Stiles leg and lightly squeezes to provide him some comfort. "Did she give you good advice?" Cora asks.
"Actually, yeah."
"That's what they do. It's what Deaton used to do for Talia." Peter says. He then continues the story, telling them that Ennis was the Alpha asked to bite Paige.
"Ennis? You asked him to do it?" Cora asks.
"Why not? He needed a new pack member. Paige was young and strong. Doing a favor for Derek would mean Ennis would be in good with Talia. Back then, everyone wanted to be in good with her."
"So what happened? Did he turn her?" Stiles impatiently questions.
Peter explains that Ennis bit her at the school one night. Derek tried to fight him off after he changed his mind but it was too late. "He doesn't remember it was Ennis, does he?" Stiles asks.
"If he does, he keeps it to himself."
"Like everything else."
"So did she turn?" Cora asks.
"She should have. And most of the time it takes. It does. The bite heals. There's a change in reflexes. All the senses heighten. Most of the time." Peter replies.
"Wait. What do you mean most of the time? Derek said he's never heard of anyone being immune" Stiles states.
"That's because no one is." Peter nods. He then explains how Derek took her to the root cellar, the nemeton. When he realized that she was dying he tried to take away her pain but it was too much. He killed her to end her suffering.
"Poor Derek." Scarlett says, as the story finishes.
"I remember taking her body from his arms. I carried her out of the woods to a spot I knew she would be found. It was another in a long line of Beacon Hills animal attacks."
"What about Derek?" Cora questions her uncle.
"He wouldn't leave the root cellar. Taking an innocent life takes something from you as well. It takes a little bit of brightness from your soul. Darkening it. Dimming a brilliant, golden yellow to a cold, steel blue. Just like mine." He flashes his eyes as they look at him.
*_*_*_*_*_*
After Peter leaves, Stiles and Scarlett sits on the steps of the loft. Cora stands in front of them, "What? You both have this look on your face."
"What look?" Stiles asks.
"The kind that makes me feel like punching you."
Scar bites her tongue, stopping herself from saying something rude, "You're definitely related Derek." Stiles says.
"What's with the look?" Cora asks once more.
"I don't believe him." Stiles states.
"I was thinking the same thing." Scarlett agrees.
"Why would he lie?" Cora asks them.
"Because he's Peter? A manipulative, compulsive, sociopathic, liar." Scarlett says.
"It's like... In Ms. Blake's class we're reading Heart of Darkness. It's in first person, right? Narrated by Marlowe." Stiles starts explaining.
"Really starting to want to punch you now, Stiles." Cora says. Scarlett's mouth twitches up into a smile.
She tilts her head down to hide it as Stiles continues, "But he's an Unreliable Narrator. The story he's telling? There's details that you just know changed because of his perspective."
"So we got the story from Peter's perspective. So what?"
"So, I don't think we got the whole story."
"There's three sides to every story. The two people in it and the truth." Scarlett says shrugging as both turn their attention to her. "What? I read it somewhere."
"What? Are you guys going to ask Derek about the girl he fell in love with and then killed?" Cora asks.
"If we have to... yeah." Stiles answers.
*_*_*_*_*_*
Once Stiles dropped Scarlett off back home, she quickly goes to her room to get ready for bed. She pushes her door open and jumps when she sees Isaac sitting on her bed. "Shit. Don't do that." She places her hand over her heart.
Isaac cracks a smile, "Sorry. I've been waiting for you."
"Stiles and I were at Derek's talking to Cora and Peter." Scarlett says as she sits beside him.
"About what?"
"Peter was telling us a story about Derek when he was younger." Isaac nods. She watches him carefully as he stares at the comforter, "What's wrong?" She asks.
He turns his head to Scarlett, "I-" He pauses. She raises an eyebrow waiting for him to continue. "Sorry, I just don't know how to start."
"Take your time. But you know you can tell me anything." Scar smiles at him.
He nods and licks his lips. He flickers his eyes down then looks back at the brunette in front of him, turning his body so he is fully facing her. "I think we should stop having sex."
"Oh?" She blinks in surprise.
"It's just- I'm pretty sure you're not ready for a real relationship. And I want something more. I don't want to pressure you into anything that you aren't ready for but I can't keep doing this."
Scarlett nods, "I understand." She looks down at her hands as she starts playing with them, "I honestly haven't really thought much about if I'm ready for a relationship or not. I've been so busy thinking about the Darach and Alpha pack."
"Maybe someday we can try this again."
Scar looks back up and whispers, "I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize. I know that you loved Nate and he hurt you a lot. And I'm okay, really."
"I guess we just fell for each other at the wrong time." She sadly smiles at him.
He lightly laughs, "Yeah, you can say that again."
"Just because we're stopping this though doesn't mean that you can't talk to me, okay? I still care about you."
"Same goes for you." Scarlett leans over and gives him a tight hug. Once she lets go he smiles one last time then walks out of her room, shutting the door behind him. Once the door is closed, Scarlett flops back on her bed to stare up at her ceiling. Thoughts of what went wrong and why she couldn't be committed running through her mind.
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