Title: A Noise in the Night
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Characters: Derek Hale, Laura Hale
Pairing: None
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 528
Warnings: Character death
A/N: Pre-series. Potential spoilers for "Co-Captain." Written for the 'I Am Who' challenge at
beacon_hills. Also on
AO3.
Summary: Derek's perspective the night Laura dies.
Derek's eyes snapped open, shining bright blue in the dark. The Beta was lying in bed, his sheets sticking to his sweaty skin in the hot August air. He peered into the blackness of his bedroom, searching for the source of the noise that had awoken him. Nothing appeared out of place.
He didn’t sleep well, not since Paige’s death, and hardly at all since the fire. Sometimes just the sound of the bugs was enough to keep him awake at night. Still, something about this noise was different, made him feel like he should investigate.
The werewolf climbed out of bed, the charred boards creaking beneath his feet as he made the way out of his room into the second-floor hallway. The door to the room next to his was ajar. “Laura” Derek whispered, wondering if his older sister was awake. Pushing the door open wider, he looked into the Alpha’s room and saw she was not in her bed. This was strange; Laura was usually a sound sleeper.
Derek headed back out into the hall. “Laura” he called out, louder now, as he descended the stairs to the first floor. When he reached the bottom of the staircase, he was surprised to discover the front door was wide open. As he moved to close the front door, he thought he heard a noise from outside. It was not like Laura to go for a run without him; it was even less likely that she would get out of bed in the middle of the night to do so.
Stepping out onto the porch, Derek used the light of the full moon to search the woods that surrounded his family’s home. From off in the distance, he heard the sound again. It was one he had heard countless times before in his life: the unmistakable howl of a wolf. It was a howl that sounded vaguely familiar, but definitely did not belong to his sister. His curiosity piqued, Derek set off at a run in the direction of the howl.
After running for about five minutes, Derek came to a sudden stop. The ground where he stood was wet, despite the fact that it hadn’t rained for three days. More dark patches of moisture were spattered on the trees in this area. Derek wiped the fingers of one hand over the wetness on one of the trees. They came away red. Derek’s voice now grew to a shout. “Laura! Laura!” he yelled into the night. He received no response; even the howls he’d heard earlier had died off.
Derek spied a small trail of blood leading deeper into the forest. He followed it for about 50 yards. At the end of the trail was another large pool of blood. Lying face down in dirt was the upper half of a body. Even from behind, Derek could tell it was Laura. Racing towards her, he turned her over. Her corpse was still warm, despite the loss of blood. Cradling her in his arms, he let out a howl of fury and sorrow that rang throughout the forest.
For the first time in his life, Derek felt truly alone.