SYMMETRY ➽ D. HALE [1]

16 ; couldn't care less

16  ➽ COULDN'T CARE LESS [UNEDITED]

Elise squeezed her eyes shut, the piercing light of her laptop screen illuminating her strained face. Her pink lips formed a tight line, the corners tugged down slightly in frustration. She had searched day and night for any information regarding the effects of a werewolf scratch. She doubted that she would become a werewolf from it, as Scott's bite had healed miraculously overnight and the brunette's side still ached- not only from the scratch itself but also from the haphazard stitching job she'd performed on herself the previous night using her mother's first aid kit.

She opened her eyes, moving the laptop from where it rested on her crossed legs and onto the bed next to her. Her hand reached for the mug resting on her nightstand, craving the caffeine overdose of coffee that was inside. Disappointingly, when Elise picked it up, she found it to be empty.

The brunette sighed, pushing herself up from the comfort of her bed and making her way down to the kitchen. Upon reaching the steps, Elise passed her mother's room, finding that Melissa McCall was still getting ready for her date. Apparently, the guy was a medical rep that had come to the hospital earlier that day.

The tile floor was sent a chill through even Elise's slippers, freezing the bottom of her feet as she trodded into the kitchen. She breathed a sigh of relief, finding that there was still some coffee in the pot. She lifted the glass pot from the maker and poured the dark drink into her mug.

Elise hadn't even made it out of the kitchen when a terrible feeling surged over her.

It was as if all of her muscles had ceased movement all at once- even her heart. She struggled to breathe properly as the world around her shifted.

She looked down, finding that the hand holding her coffee mug was no longer her own; instead of her own tanned hands, larger, ivory ones rested at the ends of wrists to match. She had no control as the hand that wasn't her's lifted to ring a doorbell once, the large wooden door standing closed next to it. It was the door to her home, Elise realized. It was only when the body she couldn't control shifted to glance at the window near the door that Elise caught sight of whom it belonged to. 

The eyes of Peter Hale stared back at her from the reflection in the glass.

"Elise!" Scott called, snapping his fingers in front of his elder sisters eyes. The brunette girl blinked once, then again, causing the fogginess that had clouded her wide eyes to fade. She shook her head, looking confused as to where she was. Then, she looked down at her body, gasping in surprise. "Are you okay?"

Elise's eyes flicked over the shattered coffee mug- which Scott presumed she'd dropped- and bore into her brother's eyes. "Scott, is there someone at the door?"

"Yeah," he nodded, unsure of why his sister was so frazzled. "I was just about to get it, don't worry." He'd only taken a mere step backward when Elise had locked his arm in a vice-tight grip.

"Don't open the door, Scott."

The panicked look in his sister's eyes sent a chill down his spine. Elise was never scared, or, at least, she had never let it show. "Why? It's just Mom's da-"

The doorbell rang again, more insistent, this time. Their mother's voice rang out from up the stairs, asking for one of them to open the door.

"Peter Hale's the one outside the door, Scott. Don't ask how I know, because I can't explain, but you have to trust me. Don't open the door." Elise spoke quietly, but quickly, the tinge of fear in the back of her voice more than evident. Scott nodded. He would always trust his sister. Then, a thought pricked the back of Scott's mind: what if their mother's date were to show up while Peter was still outside?