Back Again » Peter Hale

09

acquiesce
(v.) to accept or agree to something, often without really wanting to

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"I see my advice worked," Derek watched Andrea and Peter walk through the loft together, and while they weren't on the best of terms, they weren't fighting either.

He couldn't help but notice that even after all of those years they still seemed to walk in complete sync, each movement beautifully balanced to be perceived almost as a dance. Their constant conflict  like the ups and downs of a fast paced song.

"Stop giving advice and start using it, Der. Might help you smile more," Andrea retorted without hesitation, her eyes focused solely on the others crowding the loft. She didnt expect to recognize any of their faces, but still, not knowing any of them unsettled her. The calculating wire in her brain working a mile a minute to think of each and every possibility, she could only think in ways of her survival—after all, that's what kept her alive all these years. In her distracted state, she missed the look Derek exchanged with Peter, both of them silently noting how she sounded very much like the Andrea they'd once known. "I assume they're all here to help?"

It was an interesting bunch but they all held the same similar gaze, one filled with caution regarding the new person they knew little about other than her knowing the Hale's—with even that wasn't completely comforting. "How is it you know more than us and we've been looking into it much longer than you have?"

"You're experiencing the aftermath of the trickers game, I felt firsthand the power a creature like this holds. If you feel you still understand this situation more than I do, feel free to teach me what I don't know."

The strawberry blonde's eye twitched at that annoyingly charming yet condescending tone she hadn't heard since she was a small child—her mother a master at it, but she remained quiet nonetheless. The friend beside her spoke instead, her approach much less hostile, while still stern. "Tell us your plan."

"A plan means nothing if you aren't fully informed on what you're going up again. This form of trickster is no joke, he was born from pain and breathes in its chaos like we breathe air. Physical hurt and strife feeds it's body and keeps him quick, cunning and too many steps ahead of us." Andrea could tell they were worried, it was a good thing. It would've been nothing further from a lie if she sugarcoated the gruesome nature of the dark kitsune. "For now, you've passed a test that shows the state of your soul. No dark spirit is in possession of you."

She must have said it too flippantly for them, the young huntress quick to counter her statement. "How do you know we aren't possessed?"

Andrea's hand lifted to touch the back of her ear, two fingertip lengths down the soft side of her neck, running gently down the pulsing skin until she felt the slightly raised skin, misshapen and permanently branded on her flesh.

"I know because all of you are marked, branded more so, like me." Showing the mark for proof, subconsciously the other fidgeted to touch theirs, traumatic memories evading the back of their eyelids that they shook away yet again. "You've also been in contact with the Oni," The blonde stated confidently, not divulging how she was aware of so much."—which for now is the least of your problems."

Glassy blue eyes and dirty blond hair we're connected to a handsomely structured face. His neck was protected from the bite of the cold with a scarf, his strong features contrasting against how soft his voice was. "Easy for you to say when you aren't the one they're constantly trying to get to."

Raising a brow and feigning as if she hadn't heard him. "Do each of you have the mark?"

"Not everyone is here," Lydia confessed."—but those of us that are here, we all have it."

Crossing her arms and shifting her weight from left to right, Andrea didn't see much else she could do. Finding the trickster would take some time and now that she's effectively gotten more people fully aware of the threat, the probability of minimal civilian loss seemed high. "I have a couple connections that I might be able to call in order to gather some information on how to find out where the trickster is. It won't be easy but I'll do my best."

Multiple sets of eyes followed the woman's retrieving form without even a final word as to where it was she was going or who exactly her connections were. They all remained silent until she left, the intimidating air dispersed and the teenagers finally got their voices back. "She is really intense."

Peter couldn't even help the laugh that emitted after Scott's comment, a tsunami of flashbacks assaulting the backs of his eye lids. "You don't even know the half of it."

Rolling her eyes at the simplicity of the male mind, Lydia stepped forward. "Can we depend on her?"

"I understand your hesitation since she's associated with me but if I ever tell the truth about anything, it's her loyalty. She'll find you the answers, but you all better prepare yourselves for the answer."

"That's awfully pessimistic."

"It's logical, you're teenagers and you're bubbly and full of hope. These are more serious issues than what hope can fix. You'll need a miracle to survive this."

Lydia's ivy irises studied the spawn of satan in a v-neck in critical silence which was nearly as insulting as when she did speak. "I now understand why none of you Hale's aren't able to keep your women." Already pushing her luck and lacking the ability to maintain her cool, she made way to leave.

Walking out of Derek's apartment she couldn't help but keep thinking maybe Peter was right that they should prepare for the worst. After all it was Beacon Hills, anything felt possible.