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I had no idea that being a part of the pack would be so hard. I’d always been one, just unofficial. I am the researchguy. I never go into the action. Not after I ended up in the hospital with three broken ribs and a broken leg. Carcrash. Explain that to a father who’s a police officer when you’re a former fugitive. My dad still doesn’t trust Derek, even though I told him many times that he was going to have to deal with him. I think he’s already happy that I’m not in love with Derek. Not anymore, atleast. Or maybe just a bit. But he said no. He’s not gay. He doesn’t care about me, not in that way. He doesn’t have ‘feelings’ for me, as he expressed it. Well, I know for sure that Scott was glad. He didn’t want me to be with his alfa. It’d only make things harder than they are. Derek has to worry about Scott all the time, because it took long convincing Scott to join the pack and he still doesn’t trust Allison. And he knows that, if Scott is leaving, so will I. Scott’s my best friend, no matter what happens. And Allison is a nice girl, I have nothing against either of them. And even though I might still love Derek somewhere, my friendship with Scott will always come first. For now. As long as it comes first to Scott.
So why, you probably wonder, am I thinking that being a part of the pack is hard? It’s hard when you’re in love with the alfa, he has a new girlfriend and you have to do research with the girl who shares so much with you, even the same love for the same guy. And you find out that she’s no good news. I was in my room looking up things in these old books Derek found me. And there I found her familyname. As it was written in the books, she descends from a long line of werewolfhunters. And she knows about everyone in the pack. At first I didn’t believe it, but then I started watching her actions. Everytime something important was said at a packmeeting, she left immediately afterwards. If nothing important was said, she stayed. I overheard a few of her conversations with Derek as well, knowing that Derek would be furious if he found out. And I noticed that she had a really subtle way of asking things. Derek gave her all the information she wanted. I knew I had to act soon, so at the next meeting, I stayed longer. Everyone had left the room and Derek glanced at me.
“Was there something else you wanted to tell me, Stiles? Why were you so nervous all the time?” he asked after he made sure Isaac was really gone.
“I..” Shit! He noticed I was nervous. That wasn’t a part of ‘the big plan’.
“I’m not nervous. Okay, maybe I am. Derek, I have to tell you something.”
“No, Stiles. I don’t like you that way, so stop looking at me like that.” He said.
“Whoa, I’m not looking at you like that and it’s not what I was going to say.” I defended myself.
“You were looking.” Derek interrupted again, but he made a sign that I could continue. I sighed. This was it.
“I need to tell you something. About Emma. She’s not who you think she is. She…” And he interrupted me. Again.
“Stiles, just cut it. I like her, so back off. I don’t love you.”
He turned red after saying that and walked out. And I stood there, rejected once again. At least I tried.
Still shaking my head, I walked out his door. And then the footpath came really close. I fell with my face on the ground and saw someone come at me through the blurryness. Then I lost consciousness.
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“Thank you, let me know if you hear from him.” Stiles’ dad said to the person on the other side of the phone. He’d grabbed the bottle of whiskey about an hour ago. Stiles had been missing for fourteen hours now. He hadn’t come home from the meeting, but Derek said he left five minutes after we did.
“Scott, can you hand me my whiskey, please?” He looked gross, but I did what he asked.
“Sir, maybe it’s better if…” I didn’t come any further than that. “No. I’m not going to bed. I can’t.”
At that moment, Derek walked in.
“There’s no sight of him.” He said it like that, but he actually wanted to tell Scott that he didn’t smell anything like Stiles. Even a bad sting, or a sting in every wrong direction would’ve been better than absolutely nothing. Nothing meant professionals. And they had no lead. Stiles’ dad’s hand landed on the table.
“Then look better!” he yelled.
The policeman who had entered the room behind Derek looked up.
“FIND HIM!” the sheriff yelled again.
The young policeman returned on his steps and couldn’t be out of the house any quicker. He’d seen people yell, but to have your sheriff yell at you, is probably really scary. I stood up.
“You’re right, sir. I can’t sit here and wait either. I’m going to go look again.” The sheriff nodded.
He took his bottle of whiskey (a new one, the other one was empty) and his jacket and we left the house. Derek came after us. “I’ll go to the northside of the woods, sir.”
Stiles’ dad still didn’t like Derek, but he was glad with every single person who helped looking for his son, so he nodded. I stepped in the sheriff’s car and assured him that it was better that I was driving. He barely noticed I pulled over at my house. My mom walked to the car and saw me sitting behing the wheel. Then she saw the sheriff. She opened his door and he fell half out of the car.
“Melissa? Do you have my son?” He fell in her arms and I stepped out of the car to help her carry him.
“What the hell happened to him?” she asked.
“An entire bottle of whiskey. Mom, we still have no word about what happened to Stiles. We have no leads.”
She struggled getting him on the porch so I took over and swung him on my back.
“Can’t you do some smelly thing?” she asked. I rolled my eyes.
“Do you really think we didn’t try that? There’s nothing.” I put the sheriff on our couch and looked at mom. She pulled me in her arms, for the first time after she found out about me and the tears just came.
“Mom, he’s my best friend. I can’t lose him. And if he’s dead, I have to find his body so I can bury him. I owe him that much.”
I said.
“He’s not dead.” She said. “He’s not.”
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Darkness. That’s all I saw. I didn’t feel anything. For about five seconds.
“Ah, he’s awake. Let’s see how much he knows.”
I heard a voice saying. Then I felt the pain. It was a tormenting pain. I couldn’t help screaming my lungs out.
“STOP IT! PLEASE!” I screamed. It helped, but then the second wave came. It’s like they were elektrifying me. I felt the tears streaming over my face.
“Please!” I begged. It stopped.
“What do you know about me?” I was still too paralized by the pain but when I saw the elektric wire come at me again, I was able to answer.
“Iknowyoureahunterandthatyouusewitchcraft.” The two looked at each other.
"Come again?” Emma said. I sighed.
“I know you’re a hunter and I know you use witchcraft. It’s in your family, as it is in mine.” I repeated slowly.
I tried to swallow away the tears that were still coming.
“He knows too much, that’s for sure.” The black man said. “We have to kill him.”
I stopped trying to work my tears away and started listening.
“No, we can’t kill him. He’s the only leverage we’ve got. They’re definitly looking for him and how long do you think it will take before they start questioning everyone. Derek will put it out as long as possible but he still loves the kid, despite what he tells everyone.” Emma said.
I looked up. What? Derek loved me? Yeah right.
“So kid, I guess it’s your lucky day. Or not.” She said with a big smile on her face. I saw a needle come towards me.
“You see this? It’s almost the same as morphine. Only this drug will just make you unresisting. You will feel everything, but you can’t do anything. It’s quite exciting for us, but unfortunately, I’ve got somewhere to be. I’ll leave you to him. I’ll say hi to Derek from you.” She said. An anger inside me started exploding.
“Don’t you dare hurt him! If you hurt him only the tiniest bit, I swear I’ll kill you! I’ll stop at nothing. I.. aaargh.”
The needle hit my leftunderarm and I immediately felt my mouth dropping. I couldn’t feel it anymore. Until the black guy hit me in the stomach. It hurt like hell and I wanted to scream but I couldn’t. There was just a pathetic little noise coming out of my mouth and the tears where streaming again.
“We’re going to have so much fun together, aren’t we, Stiles Stilinski?”
I tried to snarl at him, but once again just a little sound escaped my throat.
“That’s not working on me, darling. You’re going to have to come with a lot more.”
As Emma left the building, she could her Stiles scream. The corners of her mouth were curling up, knowing that she had the ultimate defence. The boy who had no idea everyone loved him. Even she liked him in a way, because she knew he’d never say anything to betray his friends. Or Derek. She had nothing but hate against Derek and his pack. But she felt sorry for Stiles. Just a tiny bit, until she heard him scream again.
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34. The amount of hours Stiles had been missing. 3. The amount of people still looking very hard. 4. The amount of bottles of whiskey sheriff Stilinsky had drunk. I sighed. It was just Stiles’ dad, Derek and me who where still looking.
Erica, Boyd and Isaac had gone for a nap, they hadn’t slept since they heard about Stiles. Allison had to come home from her dad. She was going to come back in two hours. Lydia was tired and she decided to have a breakdown so Jackson went to her house. Everyone was tired, Mr. Stilinski was drunk and Stiles was still missing.
With no leads. Emma had told Derek to give up, to go to bed. But even she couldn’t stop him. Despite what the sheriff thought of Derek Hale, I knew that he appreciated him now.
“I give up.” I finally said. Me and Derek where searching the woods. “I’m sorry, but I’m tired. I want to go to bed.”
Derek nodded. “I know. Me too. Could you do me one favour? Go to Stiles house. He was trying to tell me something before he disappeared. I thought he was just going to go off about Emma again, but maybe he was really on to something. Try and find out what he was trying to tell me.” I nodded, I knew I owed him that much.
So on the way back home, I stopped at Stiles house. When I entered his room, I all of a sudden realised how long it’d been since I’d been there. I looked at his old stuff, not really looking for something but just.. taking a look.
Right before I wanted to leave, my eyes fell on an open book. It was one of the old books Derek had given him. Apparently he gave them to the right person, one who actually read them. I knew Derek had never read any of these books. My eyes were sliding over the page.
Until they got a lock on the word ‘magichunter’. Magichunter? I sat down on Stiles’ chair and started reading.
“The magichunter is a special kind of werewolfhunter. Instead of using the regular werewolfweapons, they use magic to kill one. Usually, a female hunter infiltrates in a pack, lures them out and then sloughters the entire pack when they don’t expect it from her. If the pack is too big to handle, another female joins. Occasionaly, they meet up with their fellow hunters to exchange information. These fellow hunters are never far from the packs, in case something goes wrong. If one of the packmembers is a threat to the elimination of all, the hunters go after him first. He gets tortured to reveal all information. Mostly the hunters use their magic. However, under special circumstances, they cannot use their powers and have to rely on ancient ways of torturing. No ‘threat’ thus far has ever survived a torture.”
This was everything but good news. I took the book under my arm. Then I realised they might be watching, so I decided to write a note and put it where only Derek would find it. Then I left the house, with the book. I just hope Derek is home, and not Emma.
“Derek.” I said, as soon as I saw him. “Is Emma home?” I asked. He shook his head.
“Good. We need to talk. I think she’s a hunter, and not a regular one.” Derek’s eyes turned black.
“Don’t you start as well. This is what Stiles said as well, and I don’t believe it. I can’t.” I sighed. I knew he would say this. So I showed him the book. After he’d read the passage, he cursed. A lot.
“That.. aargh. I’m so pissed right now. I’ll kill her.” He said.
“Calm down, Derek. So now we know that she probably has Stiles. He found out, tried to tell you and she overheard it. So she knew she had to eliminate him. And after all I read here, he’s not fine. He’s not fine at all. So we have to be carefull, if we want him back alive.”
Derek looked at me. “They can’t kill him. He’s human, it’d be murder. Right?”
I stared back at him and I saw that he already knew the answer.
“No. They will kill him. Because he’s a threat. There’s nothing stopping them now.”
Derek’s eyes were glimming. “So than it’s up to us to stop them.” I knew what I had to do. I started howling.
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It had stopped half an hour ago. But it was actually still going on. Because I was still feeling it. The blood was streaming from my body. My head felt like it was going to explode. But the worst things were the parts I couldn’t feel. I couldn’t feel my feet. I knew they were still there, because I could see them in the dark. But unlike other parts of my body, I still couldn’t move them. The pain was excruciating.
“It’s time. Let’s get you off of this.” The black man said. He untied my hands and I fell on the ground. It hurt.
“Aaaa… can’t you be a little gentle after all you did to me?” I asked. Stupid. I got another kick.
“Or not.” I said.
“Shut up.” The man said.
“You know, you’re not really the gentle type, are you?”
The man growled at me.
“Who-ow, it was just a joke.” I quickly said to defend myself.
He took me by my arm and put a needle in me.
“Oh no, not again.” I said while I already felt… well nothing anymore, to be honest. Great. He grabbed me by the arm again and dragged me towards the door.
“Whell web goen?” I asked. Shit. I couldn’t talk anymore.
A 'shut up' was the only answer I got.
Something that happens a lot to me and I still don’t like that sentence. And I hate the fact that I can’t talk. He threw me in the back of a car and drove of. We stopped at an abandoned warehouse and I got dragged inside.
“Good, you’re on time. I think they know, so I had to get out of there. I can’t handle all of them at the same time.”
The black guy got a weird look in his eyes.
“You abandoned the pack? You left them alone?” he asked.
She swallowed and all I could do is finally smile. Unfortunately for me, she noticed.
“What are you smiling at? You know, nothing is stopping me from killing you. Why don’t I just do it?”
She came at me and I couldn’t move. I don’t want to die like this, all paralyzed, lying on the ground!
“STOP.”
Derek! Derek’s here. I knew it. I knew he’d come. Emma stopped and turned around.
“Looks like you’re here. Wait, are you alone?” she asked with a high tone like she couldn’t believe it.
Did the idiot really come alone? Stupid ass. He’s worth nothing when I’m not around.
“Yes. I came alone. But I won’t be alone for long, so if you have something to say, do it now.” Damn. He still loved her.
“Derek, did you really think we were here to talk. I could’ve talked to you when we were having steamingly hot sex. But I didn’t. See, I’m just here with one purpose. To kill you. But to get to you, I had to get to the person who loves you most. And whose love is unanswered, poor Stiles. And the worst thing is, you know that he’s more to you than a packmember. So tell me, what do you think we need to talk about?” she said.
“We need to talk about him.” Derek said, and he looked at me.
“Oh, what do you have to say?” she said.
“Don’t you think you’ve kidnapped the wrong guy?” he said.
“Stiles may be more powerful than you think. And you know that.”
Huh? Me, powerful? Yeah right. Where did he get that from?
“Stiles is just a pathetic human. He’s a nobody. Everyone’s friend but not really.” I couldn’t agree more.
“There’s one thing you’re right about. He does have many friends.”
As soon as Derek said it, the door opened. I saw red and blue lights.
“POLICE! Put your hands up! Now!” my dad said. He saw me lying on the ground and came running towards me.
“Mike, get that son-stealing thief out of here. Are you alright, Stiles? God, what did she do to you?”
Tears started to come in his eyes. I wanted to say I was fine but then I realized I was crying as well. And I couldn’t stop. And there they all were. Derek, Scott, Allison, Lydia, Jackson, Isaac, Boyd, Erica and Ms. McCall. They were all smiling, except for Derek.
“Derek?” I asked.
“Derek’s right there. He did great.”
I hadn’t slept in two days and I still felt all the pain, but I had put all of that in the back of my head. Ms. McCall walked up to us.
“The ambulance is here, you’re going to be fine, Stiles.” My dad sighed, but I could still see his pain when he looked at me. Or my body. My shirt was torn off of me long time ago, after the first torture. But the blood still covered my body like a shirt, and that’s what frightened him. The ambulancemen came and, even though they lifted me up gently, I couldn't help screaming. It still hurt like hell and I saw all of my friends cower. My dad said “Careful, careful!” but it didn't really help. I felt myself passing out.
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“Beep---Beep---Beep” The heart monitor was making a comforting sound.
“Wha- where am I?” I asked.
“Stiles!” I heard my dad say. “You’re in the hospital, son. You have quite a few fractures and broken bones, but atleast you’re alive.”
I felt very much alive.
“Can I get more morphine? Please?” My dad nodded and went to get the nurse. All I could do was lay down my head.
“It’s nice to see you awake, Stiles.” A voice said. I recognized it immediately. “Derek. You’re here.”
“I never left.” He answered. We both smiled.
“What Emma said…” I started. “Did she mean it? Am I more to you than just a friend? Because you definitly are more to me.” Derek smiled.
“Yes, and I’ve been an asshole to you. I liked you so much and when you told me, I got scared. Scared of what everyone would think of me. So I said no to you. I told you to back off when I actually wanted to keep you close. And then Emma showed up and I thought what I felt for her, was love. But it wasn’t. The more time I spent with her, the more I realized how much I wanted it to be you lying in my arms.”
Derek moved in closer.
“I’m sorry, Stiles. For the way I treated you and for lying to you. And for lying to myself. But I love you. More than anyone in the world.”
He came even closer and pressed his lips against mine.
“Beep—Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep”. The heartmonitor went crazy. Derek backed off and it went back to normal.
“So now you know.” Derek said. I knew.
But I’d always known, somewhere. And I already made up my mind.
“Derek. I’m not staying. I’m leaving for college after the summer. I mean, I have a scholarship. I want to see if I can get a life without danger. No matter how close I want to be with you, and trust me, it’s very close, I still want to be the kid that just knows a lot. Not the one that’s being used as bait for a werewolf.” Derek nodded.
“I know. Scott told me you already made up your mind, even before being kidnapped. But I just want to let you know, that you’ll always have a home here. With your dad, but also with me. No matter where you want to go, I’ll always wait for you at home, if you want me to.” I smiled.
“Wow, I’ve never heard you say that many things after eachother.” I was thinking about it.
“Fine. I leave for school, and when I come back, I expect you waiting for me with ovenbaked bread and my favorite pizza. Do we have a deal?” I asked, but Derek didn’t need anything else.
I found his lips placed on me again.
“Derek, I really like this position but it hurts and my dad could be back any minute so get off me.”
Derek hesitated but then he listened to me. And a second later my dad walked in, seeing Derek sitting next to me and a huge smile on my face. “What did I miss?” he asked. Derek and I started laughing. Life is good, for now. And that’s enough for me.