TAINTED HEART | D.HALE

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

chapter thirty three
( time of death )

          Sofia turned on her side for the fifth time in the past hour. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep. The constant thought of how drastically her life had changed in less than a year was always looming over her.

Sofia finally decided to give in and sat up in her bed. The soft snores from beside her caused her to look over at the drowsy girl asleep.

Derek had offered Braeden a place to stay while things died down and she recovered properly. He had also offered Sofia his bed while Braeden stayed but she refused. Nothing would compare to the fear Sofia faced when she had found Braeden.

Sofia blew out a breath of exhaustion before standing from the raised mattress. The cold feeling of the floor against her feet sent a slight chill up her back.

Sofia was surprised to see Derek asleep on the couch instead of his bed that lay a mere couple feet away. She tiptoed over to the injured man that seemed unconscious.

The ex-huntress carefully sat down on the wooden table across from him. With cautious movements, Sofia slowly pried Derek's tank top up to check on the bloody wound.

She was surprised to find it completely unhealed. Before Sofia could examine it further, Derek's hands shot out and grabbed hers.

Sofia sighed and looked away. She felt like a child who had gotten caught sneaking into the kitchen at night.

Derek's eyes finally opened, "What are you doing?"

"Making sure the owner of the loft i'm currently living in is still alive," Sofia tried to play it off.

"Hmm," Derek smirked, clearly not believing the girl.

Sofia narrowed her eyes at the man, "Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Why are you up right now?" Derek attempted to change the subject.

"Don't change the subject."

Derek sighed, still not answering. Sofia took it upon herself to continue talking, "Alright then. New question. Why aren't you healing?"

"Some wounds take longer," Derek tried to close his eyes and go back to sleep.

Sofia gently slapped his shoulder, "Derek."

"Maybe i'm just tired," Derek turned onto his side so he was facing the couch instead of Sofia.

"Really?" she scolded. After a second of no response, Sofia spoke again, "Let me see your eyes."

"You just saw them."

Sofia scoffed, "Okay, smart-ass. Your real eyes."

After a moment, Derek sighed and turned back over to face her. His eyes stayed the same green color they normally were as he blankly stared.

"What's going on with you?"

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

After spending the past 20 minutes properly taking care of Derek's wound, Sofia was finally finished, "It's just a graze. But make sure it doesn't get infected."

Derek nodded then reached down to feel around the gauze bandage that she had wrapped. Sofia suddenly swatted his hand away, "Don't touch."

"Ow?" Derek stated in a way that sounded more like a question.

"Baby," Sofia rolled her eyes. "So like, is everything gone? No glowing eyes, no healing, what else?"

"Smell, hearing, speed, everything."

"So, what i'm hearing is that I have the upper hand now?" Sofia tried to lighten the mood.

"No," Derek didn't hesitate to answer.

Sofia raised her eyebrows in question, "Okay, first of all, that was a joke. Everyone knows i've always had the upper hand. And second, that's very bold of you to assume."

Derek looked at the girl very confused for a second, "What do you mean everyone?"

Sofia ignored his protests and leaned down to hold her arm out, signaling she wanted to arm wrestle. Derek laughed in disbelief before he bent down and laced hands with her.

"Ready pretty boy?"

"Mmm-hmm," Derek hummed cockily.

Sofia tried to hide her evil glint, knowing what she was about to do, "One. Two..."

Before she counted to three, Sofia sent a vibratory shock out of her hand into Derek's. His elbow buckled and fell weak as she slammed it down, signaling her win.

"You cheated," Derek protested, groaning in pain as the feeling slowly returned to his arm.

"No, I had the upper hand," It was Sofia's turn to smile with a cocky expression.

Derek refused to let it go and put his left elbow on the table, "No supernatural help this time."

Sofia sighed, "If you're that desperate to lose again, you should've just said so."

After a second, she reluctantly gave in and linked her hand with Derek's for a second time. She didn't need any outside resources. At the end of the day, no matter how much she hated it, she was still a Calavera.

"One, two, thr— "

Derek was abruptly cut off as Sofia slammed her right hand against his bullet wound, causing the man to lose his balance once again.

After Sofia successfully rammed his arm into the table, she couldn't help the laugh that escaped her mouth as Derek whined.

"I'm glad you find this amusing," Derek said from his position bent over the table, cradling his side.

"I do, I really do," Sofia laughed.

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

haleshoe is typing...

HIII I KNOW I SAY THIS A LOT BUT IM ACTUALLY BACK NOW

also i'm sure most of u know this is the episode where braeden and derek like get together or whatevs and dw i'm not leaving y'all hanging w that scene for sofia and derek

i just didn't want this chap to be too long

so hope ur excited for the next chap cuz hehe

this was a double update btw so make sure to go read chapter thirty three ;)

thank you for reading!
hope you enjoyed <33