Full Moon ☾ Derek Hale

Chapter Forty-One: Unleashed (Part 1)

Chapter Forty-One: Unleashed (Part 1)

Chapter Song: The Struggle by Grizfolk

☾☾☾

Sounds of unintelligible whispers floated in the air, their words sounding off a foreign language. Branches rustled together, floating into my hearing. My eyes opened in one swoop, finding myself standing in the dark hallway of Beacon Hills High. Decaying tree branches mangled themselves up the walls and lockers. Green plants with white Barries attached themselves to the branches. I walked up to one classroom that I recognized to be Harris' classroom. The vines and branches covered the doors, obstructing me from getting in. My hands ran over the plants, my fingers grasping the berries between their tips. What was this?

"Hayley." One of the voices whispered, its words finally recognizable. My head popped up and in continued down the hallway. I tried again at the English classroom, only to be blocked one again. As I took a step back from the English classroom door, my shoes began squeaking on a slippery substance. My eyes trailed down, finding the linoleum stained in dark blood. A shaky breath escaped my lungs as I began backing away from the door. Blood began running down the branches on the door. I continued to back up until my back hit what should have been the lockers.

Instead of hitting the lockers, I found my footing waiver and soon found myself falling a hundred miles an hour. I screamed out, watching the school disappear as I fell and my surroundings turn dark and surrounded by concrete. Sights of broken down escalators and steal beams wizzed by my vision before I hit the floor with a slam.

"Ugh." I grunted out, feeling the impact of the fall yet verberate through my body, yet feeling none of the pain. I rolled over onto my side, only to release a banshee like scream when my eyes fell on the lifeless body of a bald man beside me. 

Sunlight flooded my vision, a quiet gasp for air echoing in the room as I gently jolted awake. My heart raced, thumping loud against my chest.

"Another dream?" A voice softly asked beside me. I blinked the sleep and blinding sun from my vision.

"Yeah." I said through a breath without thinking. My eyes adjusted to the sunlight billowing in from the tall windows of Derek's loft. I laid comfortably on my side, my hands lightly grasping onto the soft, navy sheets. My eyes trailed up, finding Derek laying next to me, a dark comforter resting halfway up his shirtless chest. His skin was whole again, the gashes gone as if they hadn't been there in the first place. A rush of anxiety washed over me. It wasn't the typical post dream anxiety either, it was something completely different this time. It was the realization I was in bed with Derek and we were both minimally clothed. It was the realization that after years of knowing each other, my pent up feelings came to a head and we had slept together. Sure, we had kissed. On multiple occasions. But now as I laid next to him in nothing but my own skin, a worry crept up my neck. Did I just make a mistake and ruin what we—whatever the hell we had—was? With my head pressed against the pillow, I peaked up at him through my lashes.

"Not the way I was hoping you'd wake up." Derek lightly chuckled, a hint of a smile lifting his lips. My eyes narrowed. There was something different about him. His face looked...lighter. More at ease. Almost...happy.

"Are you smiling?" I choked on a laugh in disbelief. The perturbation in my chest lessened, my heart swelling in its place. "Maybe I did hit my head harder than I thought."

"You're hilarious." Derek rolled his eyes playfully.

"I'll be here all week." I grinned.

"Is that a promise?" Derek asked, his voice low. My cheeks tinted pink as I stifled the smile that dared to grow across my face. I sat up in the bed, noticing the black lace bra thrown carelessly on the nightstand beside the two bourbon glasses. My eyes widened and I quickly snatched the garment from the side table. "Was there anything new? With the dream?" Derek wondered as I clasped the bra on.