Human is Just a Word 54/?
Chapter 54
"It's about Laura." Stiles said in a choked voice and after that Derek kind of blanked out. On some level he realized that Stiles was telling him about the body the department had found in the woods and that it was most likely Laura's but it wasn't yet official. Ellen and Stephen who had been with her were missing and Stiles had no idea what to do.
Derek managed to tell him to get out of Beacon Hills as quickly as possible but that was all he could come up with at the moment. Then he just sat there and stared at the phone in his hand.
He wanted to call Laura, just to hear her voice and for her to tell him how silly he was for believing for a second that she was dead. But he feared that it would go to voicemail. So he just sat there, his mind numb, and didn't know what to do.
Maria found him like this.
"Laura, my sister." The words sliced through his throat like shards of glass. "Stiles thinks she's dead."
Stiles could be wrong, he was clinging to that thought. Stiles would never have told him if he wasn't sure but it was the one thing Derek could think of right now. Stiles could be wrong. This was all a big misunderstanding, Laura was fine. She had to be.
"Oh, dear." Maria hovered next to him not sure if she should touch him or not and he just slumped into her open arms.
Derek didn't know how he ended up on a plane, Maria had arranged the flight and had driven him to the airport.
The flight was torture. Derek was forced to sit still, to breathe the stall air and listen to the noises of the people around. He felt crowded and trapped and he just wanted to lash out on something. The only reason he didn't slice up the guy sitting next to him when his elbow hit him once again was because he wouldn't get to Stiles and Laura any time soon if he got detained.
So Derek grit his teeth and white-knuckled his way through the flight. He may have shredded the upholstery of one of the armrests but nobody seemed to notice and he left the plane as one of the first. People seemed to sense the barely contained alpha pushing past them and let him through without much trouble.
When he finally left the airport, he checked his phone for any updates.
Stiles had left a message, telling him that Ellen and Stephen had shown up, which was a relief. A second message confirmed that the body had been Laura's.
Derek tried to call back but Stiles didn't answer.
"Call me!" He barked into the phone before he went to organize a car for himself. He needed to get to Beacon Hills, now, but his own car was at the wrong airport. The clerk at the rentals seemed to have at least a little sense of self-preservation and a few minutes later Derek was on the road.
He broke every speed limit on his way but for once he was lucky and no cop pulled him over.
An endless loop of "she's dead, she's dead, she's dead" played in his head while he tasted smoke in the back of his throat. It was just like then. He and Laura hadn't been home and when they had gotten the message of the fire they had hurried back. Derek had smelled the smoke long before they had reached the house. Now he wished Peter had burned with them.
"I'm going to kill you." Derek promised his uncle through his fangs. In his mind there was no doubt about who had killed Laura. She had been in Beacon Hills, she had met up with Peter and now she was dead. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots here.
Derek only hoped that Stiles was safe. When he had left the messages earlier he hadn't said anything about leaving Beacon Hills and somehow Derek doubted that his mate had taken his advice and got to safety.
When he reached Beacon Hills Derek drove straight to the Stilinskis' house and brought the rented car to a skittering halt in the empty driveway. Stiles' jeep wasn't there and neither was the Sheriff's cruiser.
He could tell that Stiles and Isaac weren't anywhere near by, the bonds in his mind still stretched too thin by distance, but he got out of the car to confirm that there were no heart-beats coming from the house anyway. Stephen and Ellen had been here, their scent still lingered in the air, and there were some bloodstains but there was nobody here now.
Derek went back to his car and drove to the sheriff's station. If he didn't find answers there, Peter's mansion would be his next stop but that was borderline suicidal and he wasn't there just yet.
The station was way less crowded than he would have expected after a murder in a little town like this but he wasn't really surprised either. There were members of Peter's pack working here and he doubted they wanted to investigate against their own alpha. Plus, it was an open secret that Peter had half the department on his payroll and they were probably not keen on doing their job right now either.
However, among a few others the sheriff was actually working. The deputy behind the front desk had one look at Derek before she gestured for him to just go through to the sheriff's office.
"John, what happened?" Derek asked before he was even through the door. "Where's Laura? Stiles?" He hadn't heard from Isaac either but he hoped that once he knew where Stiles was, the rest would sort itself out.
"Derek." John looked tired but not really surprised to see him. "Did Stiles call you?"
"What's with Laura? Is she …?" He couldn't bring himself to say it. As long as he didn't say it, it wasn't true.
"I'm sorry." John came around the desk and a second later Derek found himself in his strong arms. "She's dead."
John wasn't pack, not exactly, but at the moment he was all Derek had and he let the other man guide him over to a chair.
"We're still investigating." John explained, taking the chair next to him without ever losing contact with him. His hand on Derek's shoulder was the only thing grounding him. "But Peter claims that she challenged him."
"She would never …" Derek shook his head. "That would have been insane."
"That's why we're still investigating." John said but they both knew that even if they could prove that Peter had right up murdered her, it wouldn't change anything.
"Her pack. He's going to …" This couldn't be happening.
"Peter already claimed her territory." John said gently. "And he gave her pack an ultimatum of two days to either join his pack or leave his territory."
"I have to …" Derek was half out of his chair before John cut him off.
"Stiles already offered refuge in your territory. He said that they could join your pack or stay until they've found other options." John said it in a calm voice that came from lots of experience of dealing with traumatized victims and Derek kind of hated him for that. He wasn't the victim here. On the other hand, it did help to calm his mind.
"Where are they now?" He asked. "Stiles and Isaac, I mean."
"They went with Ellen and Stephen." John answered quietly. "They want to help Laura's pack to get to your territory."
There was nobody left in Beacon Hills. It was a relief to know that at least Stiles and the betas were safe but on the other hand, Derek was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was all alone in Peter's territory. And he had already murdered his own niece.
"I hope that's okay with you?" John ducked his head to look him in the eye. "Stiles just made the decision."
"Yeah, yeah, it's fine." Derek cleared his throat. "They have been my pack before I became an alpha. Of course I'll take them in." He would have done the same thing for complete strangers and Stiles probably knew that.
"I should …" He started but didn't know what he should do now. Leave Peter's territory, that was a given, but after that? His instincts were pulling him in two directions. One back home to his territory, to his pack, at least Boyd and Erica should be there, where he could prepare everything for the arrival of Laura's pack. His betas probably didn't even know what happened yet.
On the other hand he really wanted to see his mate. And to a lesser degree Isaac, he was his first beta after all and their bond had been somewhat special from the very beginning.
But there was one thing he needed to do before he left Beacon Hills. And that wasn't killing Peter no matter how much he wanted to do just that. He was alone and Peter had a strong pack backing him up.
"I want to see Laura." Decision made he locked eyes with John, daring him to deny him seeing his sister.
"Of course."
The sheriff led the way deeper into the building.
Derek had been here once a long time ago to see his dead family. It hadn't been necessary but Derek had known that it had been his fault so the least thing he could do was to look into their burned faces. It probably hadn't been healthy and for sure it had caused endless nightmares but Derek had felt the need to punish himself for what he'd done.
Laura wasn't his fault, he knew that, and what expected him under the white sheet on the steel table was far from what the rest of his family had looked like but he needed to see for himself. Only then he would be able to accept that she was truly gone.
The sheriff pulled the table out of its vault and gently lifted the sheet off her face. He left the rest of her body covered and then stepped aside to give Derek a moment with his sister.
She was pale.
She looked almost peaceful.
Peter had ripped her throat out but with the blood washed off it looked almost fake.
Reluctantly Derek put his hand over her heart but he didn't hear or feel anything. Her heart wasn't beating anymore. She was dead.
With his other hand he stroke her hair and then he brought their foreheads together. His tears fell freely on her cold skin.
"I'll take care of your pack." He promised, choking on tears. "And I will make Peter pay."
Hugging her close Derek threw back his head and howled out his pain.
"Derek, you have to let her go." A voice pierced through the fog in his mind and only with a delay he realized that there were hands on him.
Derek let go of her body and could only watch when the sheriff arranged her on the table again before he covered her back up.
The steel door closed with a thud, making it final. Laura was dead.
The sheriff eyed him as if he wanted to ask if Derek was okay, which he clearly wasn't, but he didn't ask.
He just led him out of the morgue and got him a bottle of water from a vending machine.
"I can keep her here for a few days." John said. "If you want her buried with your family, I can arrange that."
"I have to talk to her pack about that." Derek said, his throat raw. He opened the water bottle.
Sipping his water Derek still didn't know what to do next. He should go back to his territory but he really wanted to be with his mate right now. He put the decision off until he was on the road. The sheriff clearly didn't like the idea of him driving in his condition but he didn't hold him back either.
He needed to get out of Peter's territory.
Derek had just left the welcome sign of Beacon Hills in his rear-view mirror, when his phone rang.
Stiles didn't even bother with a greeting, he just blurted out: "The house is burning."
Chapter 55
Masterpost