Hunger

Chapter Thirty-four

Stiles

"Derek, you're not helping very much," I hissed, glaring down at him from where I was hanging as Charlie tried to pull me into the air duct. Derek just grinned and started to push me up. "Thanks," I mumbled, rolling my eyes. Charlie gripped my wrists tighter and pulled me into the vent, using his arms to catch himself as he fell backwards to give me more room. I thanked him too, but it wasn't sarcastic like it had been towards Derek. 

"Sorry, I was distracted by your ass in my face," Derek added when I looked down at him. He was still smirking when he pulled himself up after me, and the smirk grew when I had to crawl backwards because his face was too close to mine. "And the fact that my hands were on your ass too," he whispered. 

I rolled my eyes and turned around to follow Charlie. "Derek, I worry about you sometimes," I replied, glancing behind me. He just laughed a little and followed.

Charlie seemed to know where he was going, so I didn't question him, and neither did Derek. We crawled on our stomachs for at least twenty minutes before Charlie stopped, and held up a hand to tell us to stop moving as well. "Down here," Charlie said, moving the cover over. He carefully lowered himself down, and then held out his arms so I wouldn't fall to my death. Although I didn't feel entirely comfortable putting my life in the hands of a fourteen year old, the worst that could happen was me breaking a few bones, so I let myself fall and Charlie, thank god, caught me and immediately put me back down. 

Scott's arms were already around my waist, picking me up as he squeezed me. "OUCH," I said loudly, smacking his shoulder. He set me down and smiled. "Seriously, lay off the werewolf strength, dude."

When Derek dropped out of the vent next, Kara stood up to meet us in the middle of the room, her eyebrows raised. "Uh, where's Will?" she asked, worry present in her voice. "Is he okay? Did they-"

"Kara," Charlie said forcefully, shaking his head. "He betrayed us. He's on their side, not ours." He was past the feeling of crying over the fact that his brother basically left him for dead, and now he was just angry. If Will were to come back begging for forgiveness, Charlie would leave him behind without looking back. "Right now, we need a plan. And think fast, because we don't have much time before they come back to kill us all."

Kara, although she looked like she wanted to cry, nodded in agreement. She didn't talk about Will. No one did after that. "I can use my magic," she offered. "I feel a lot better now that I got some sleep."

"What kind of magic will help us?"I asked as Scott scooted up beside me and started to lean towards my ear. Before he could ask the question, I pushed his face away and said, "She's a witch, Scott." His lips formed a perfect 'o' as he nodded and stepped back, offering Kara a small smile. I rolled my eyes. 

"First of all," Kara said, glancing back where Liam and Malia sat slumped against the wall. "I can fix them. I don't know what those creatures are called that did this to them, but I know Marcus has had to deal with it before and I know the spell to fix them." She didn't wait for anyone to answer, or tell her any different. She turned quickly and walked over to them, starting with Liam. 

"She's kind of a badass, by the way. Where did you find her?" Scott whispered, leaning closer with a stupid grin on his face. I glanced at him, an eyebrow raised. "What?!" he yelled in a hushed voice.