All That Glitters Is Silver

When my eyes fluttered open, I could hear a muffled noise shouting something. It was complete nonsense, whatever they were saying. I couldn’t understand a word of it in my groggy daze.

The first thing I noticed besides my fuzzy hearing was the fact that I was lying in the supine position in the middle of the forest. A groan escaped my lips as I pushed my heavy body off the ground to a sitting position.

I squinted in the darkness; my eyes still hadn’t overcome the deep sleep I had recently awoken from. I rubbed them roughly as that same voice called me. It was closer and clearer.

It was Derek.

I jerked my head to the direction it was coming from to see Scott and Derek trampling towards me.

Scott had rescued Derek? How long had I been out?

It was still night time so I assumed no more than a few hours. My dad must have been worried sick about me.

Why was I sitting alone in the middle of the forest anyway?

The last thing I remembered was drifting off in Jackson’s car. Where had Jackson gone to?

The next thing I knew, Scott and Derek skidded on the dirt, spraying some dead leaves into the night as they halted in front of me. They both looked out of breath and distressed. Derek’s hand clutched my arm tightly; his blue eyes electrified me with his tender look.

“Cassie,” He breathed, “What are you doing out here?”

I glanced around at my surroundings and realized we were right outside of Derek’s decrepit house. Being back here was really strange. This was the place Derek and I had sex and started this whole mess.

“Jackson.” I muttered. My voice was dry. “He took me home. I fell asleep. I think he drugged me.” I rubbed my face tiredly.

“Jackson drugged you?” Scott cried.

“I don’t know. What’s going on?” I groaned, feeling nauseas. “You’re free.” I noted to Derek.

“Yeah,” He nodded, “Thanks for getting the message to Scott.”

“Well it was either that or let Kate torture you to death.” I muttered, “This choice seemed more humane.”

Despite the ominous situation we were in right not, Derek managed to chuckle at my lame joke.

“Let’s get her up.” He told Scott. They both grabbed an arm and hoisted me onto my feet.

I wiped down my dress and looked back up at the two boys. My hair felt loose and I was sure there were twigs in it but the way Derek looked at me, I temporarily didn’t care. He looked happy to see me and it made me feel pretty for the first time tonight.

Which felt a little ironic since this was probably the worst I’d looked all night.

“So what did I miss?” I questioned, trying to get my mind off the fact that I had a few hours under my belt that I couldn’t recall.

“Allison knows.” Scott swallowed hard. I turned back to him in alarm. There were a lot of secrets, he was going to have to specify. “About me being a werewolf. She knows. So do all the hunters in town, I’m guessing.”

“I was out for a few hours and shit hit the fan.” I chortled humorlessly. “What are we supposed to do? It’s only a matter of time before they find out I’m pregnant and things will get really out of hand.”

“I have an idea.” Derek said stoically, his brief moment of weakness over, “We don’t tell anyone and get you the hell out of here.”

“We can’t,” I said guiltily, “I already told Allison. About everything.”

“Everything?” Derek asked incredulously, fury building up in his body.

“Well, mostly everything. She knows the baby’s yours…” I avoided eye contact with him.

“And I think I told Jackson about it too…” I went on, trying to piece my last moments conscious together.

“Oh,” Derek laughed cruelly, “This just keeps getting better and better. Why don’t you just call Kate up right now and confess everything to her? What the hell were you thinking, Cassie?” He was getting overly worked up about this, pacing across the forest floor to get away from me.

“She deserved to know, Derek! She’s my cousin!” I cried after him, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake. God knows we’re pros at that, aren’t we?”

Derek wheeled around as I clenched my jaw to keep from whimpering from his intense hatred of me at that moment. His anger was displaced. Why was I deserving his wrath at this moment? I had enough to deal with without Derek being an ass.

“Yeah,” He agreed coolly, “We are.”

I grimaced, hurt by his words but I had set myself up for it.

“Fuck you, Derek.” I seethed. He opened his mouth to respond when the familiar clink of an arrow being released from its bow pierced through the night and punctured Derek.

Scott and I glanced over in the direction it came from and saw Kate and Allison rearing for another attack. Allison pulled out another bow, not making eye contact with me.

“Allison?” I called as another arrow went soaring by, hitting Derek in the leg and knocking him down. Allison finally looked at me and her eyes clearly told me to back away.

“Scott, Cassie, your eyes!” Derek shouted from the ground. I understood what he meant and shielded my eyes from the flash but Scott—being an idiot—did not. He went down in a discombobulated heap.

“Allison, stop it!” I demanded but she shook her head in disgust at her boyfriend.

Derek pulled himself off the ground, snagging my wrist and Scott’s jacket and pulling us along with him.

“Get away from her!” Allison growled from her position next to Kate. Scott kept blinking profusely, trying to see her.

We didn’t get far before Derek collapsed, shoving Scott and I forward only for Scott to take me down with him.

“Go!” Derek commanded desperately at me. It was too late now.

“Allison, please,” Scott said disoriented, “I can explain!”

“Just stop—stop lying.” Allison frowned, shaking her head in disgust. “And I told you to get away from her.” She growled at Derek.

“Allison,” I tried, “You don’t understand.”

“He took advantage of you, he got you pregnant, he killed your mother. So, Cassie, please,” Allison let out a mechanical laugh that didn’t suit her, “Please explain to me why you’re protecting this monster. Why are you throwing away your life for someone who destroyed yours?” She begged.

Kate looked like someone who had just gotten everything they’d wanted for Christmas. “I guess it’s a little bit of history repeating all around there, Derek.”

Derek pleaded her to stop talking.

“What do you mean?” I asked shakily.

“Aw,” Kate smirked, coming up behind Derek and running a hand through his hair seductively, “Didn’t he tell you about all the fun times we had?”

“Fun times?” I demanded, glancing at Derek, “What does that mean?”

His guilty eyes told me everything.

“You—You slept—” I couldn’t even form the thought, it was too heinous. Derek and Kate had slept together. My aunt and Derek were involved romantically.

Now, I was the fool sitting on my ass in dirt in front of the place we’d had sex and gotten pregnant with the woman who had been there first. I felt disgusted. I felt violated. But, most of all, I felt betrayed.

Not by Kate, but by Derek. Why would he have kept something like that from me?

“Cassie,” He tried but I wasn’t having it.

“Stay away from me.” I spat, standing up quickly. The world felt like it was spinning and I couldn’t tell if it was because of my anger or the baby.

“Thank God.” Kate sighed, “Now, Allison, shoot them before I have to shoot myself.”

Allison stared at Kate in confusion. “You said we were only going to catch them.”

“We did that.” She shrugged, “Now, we’re going to kill them.” Before I could blink, she lifted her gun up and shot Derek.

A strangled scream left my mouth as I stared at Derek’s lifeless body.

“See? Not that hard.” She said, ignoring me.

I noticed Scott scooting away from my suddenly manic aunt. What was happening? I couldn’t comprehend anything. One minute I found out Derek and Kate had a fling and the next Derek’s dead. Was he really dead? I didn’t know. I didn’t really know how to kill a werewolf but I didn’t think a single bullet could do the trick.

“Oh, no, no, no, no,” Kate sighed knowingly, “I know that look. That’s the ‘you’re-going-it-have-to-do-it-yourself-look’.” She frowning dramatically, lifting the gun to Scott’s head as I looked on in helplessness.

“Kate—Kate,” Allison pleaded, “What are you doing?” She tried to grab Kate but got knocked over instead. The malicious smile on her face was unsettling. This woman wasn’t my aunt. I didn’t know who she was, but she wasn’t Kate.

“I love those brown eyes.” Kate said mournfully, cocking the gun.

Scott’s eyes were so wide I thought they were going to fall out. Under different circumstances, it might even have been funny. Under very different circumstances.

“Kate.” A familiar voice called. I glanced behind me and for a split second, didn’t know who was standing before me. My father or Chris. But the next person he looked at was Allison so I had my answer.

“We know what you did.” This time it was my father. They both held identical guns and expressions.

Kate seemed surprised.

“Put the gun down.” Chris demanded calmly.

“I did what I was told to do.” Kate answered quietly, ignoring his advice.

“No one asked you to murder innocent people.” Chris shook his head.

“There were children in that house,” My father’s eyes strayed to the ruins of the Hale house, “Ones who were human.”

My eyes met Allison’s. She was as lost as I was.

“Look what you’re doing now!” My father went on, “You’re holding a gun at a sixteen year old boy. No proof he spilt human blood.”

Chris pursed his lips, “We go by the code.”

Kate gave him an exasperated look. What was the code?

“Nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent.” My father quoted, a fire alight in his eyes that I hadn’t seen in quite some time.

Behind me Allison muttered, “We hunt those who hunt us.”

So that was the hunter code. We only hunted the wolves that had killed with proof. So what had Kate done to break the code? All she ever did was hunt werewolves. I couldn’t think of a single crime she’d committed.

Then, I remembered six years ago Kate had been exiled from the family. No one spoke to her in six years and she suddenly showed up in Beacon Hills this year.

Six years ago Kate had broken the code. Something else had happened six years ago but I couldn’t place it. It was a fuzzy memory, a distant conversation I’d had with someone.

His family, they all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago.

Stiles had been close. It was six. Six years ago Derek Hale’s family was massacred. By Kate.

I snapped my eyes opened, feeling my breathing becoming unsteady. Kate had murdered Derek’s entire family. How could she do such a thing? She must have had proof but the way the conversation was going, it didn’t sound that way.

Chris’ and my father’s words didn’t seem to faze Kate. Her index finger massaged the trigger and she stared unblinkingly at Scott.

Simultaneously, our fathers raised their guns at her. Kate turned her head, glaring.

“Put the gun down.” Chris demanded again before shooting off a round a few inches away from Kate’s extended arm into the tree behind her. Kate glanced back, flaring her nostrils. “Before I put you down.” He went on.

Kate lowered her weapon, shaking her head. Scott let out a sigh of relief but we weren’t out of the woods yet.

The faded red door to Derek’s house creaked open and we all swiveled our heads and bodies to look at it.

“Allison, Cassie, get back.” Chris barked in slight fear. Kate readied herself, aiming for the door and whatever was about to come out. I knew it was the Alpha. I just knew.

I wished my dad was back home, safe. Just anywhere but here.

Scott scrambled off the ground and Allison and I followed his lead, transfixed on the door in anticipation.

“What is it?” Allison whimpered.

“It’s the Alpha.” Scott confirmed my fears. I bit back a sob, feeling my dad’s gaze directly on me. I peered over at him, shaking my head. If we survived this, nothing would be a secret between us anymore. I felt so ashamed for what I had done.

“I’m so sorry.” I hiccupped. He tilted his head in confusion before something big and black dashed from the house and took him down. I screamed for him as a claw flung back and latched itself in his throat.

“NO!” I shrieked as blood spattered, scrambling forward. There was nothing I could do now. The Alpha had slashed his throat open. He was dead before I could blink. “No! You promised! You promised if I said yes you would stop!” my vision was blurred by my unstoppable tears.

The creature turned to me, bearing its teeth as if to grin. Its red eyes flashed as he uttered in a deep voice, “You shouldn’t have rejected my proposal the first time. I told you, you would be punished.”

“No…” I gasped in deep breaths, my shaking palm lifted to my mouth. “No…”

I felt like I was back home, walking through the halls to find my mother’s lifeless corpse stained with ruby liquid. Now it was my father’s turn to die because of me.

I knelt beside my father’s body, pleading up at Peter, “Please, kill me.”

He howled at my request. “You’re no good to me dead.” He stood up to take off into the house when I grabbed onto his arm.

“Kill me!” I begged.

He swung his arm back to shake me off but there was too much power behind it and he nailed me in the stomach, flying me back a few feet.

A painful sensation ran through me, starting at my abdomen. It felt like I was being stabbed by thousands of tiny pins. I clutched my stomach, groaning in agony.

Two bright lights blinded my vision momentarily. I squinted, biting my lips so hard to keep from screaming that I could taste blood.

I recognized that car. I had been in that car only a few hours prior. It was Jackson’s.

Jackson and Stiles flew out of the car, throwing bottles and lighting a fire. I was too disoriented and twitchy to comprehend what was happening. I tried to crawl my body towards the others.

“Cassie!” Someone shouted. A few moments later, that same person was skidding across the ground, landing in front of my curled up form.

I coughed and blood spilt out.

“Cassie,” It was Stiles. He rubbed my head, “Oh, God. You’re bleeding. Are you okay?”

I tried to sit up and answer but it hurt so much that my body started convulsing. Eventually, I gagged up some vomit and blood.

“Help!” Stiles cried, “I need some help over here!” He felt my stomach and I yelped. “What happened, Cassie? I need to know.”

“Alpha,” I choked, “I think I wet my pants.”

Stiles made a strange face before glancing down at my legs and taking a sharp intake of breath. “Jackson!” He yelled and a few moments later, Jackson appeared.

“Where have you been?” I wondered aloud, feeling lightheaded.

“She’s bleeding,” Stiles panicked, “I think it’s the baby. Help me get her to your car. We need to take her to the vet.”

Jackson looked bewildered but obliged.

There was so much going on that no one really noticed Jackson and Stiles carrying my limp form and placing me in the back of the Porsche. I saw fire dancing around but I think I might have imagined it.

Jackson sped out of there, grumbling to himself. “She’s going to get blood all over my seats.”

“Cassie could be dying!” Stiles exclaimed, “You’re the one who dumped her there so who cares about your damn seats!”

In the vast amount of pain I was in, it felt like ages before we arrived at Dr. Deaton’s. Stiles quickly pulled back the seat and picked me up with some difficulty. I whimpered, trying my best not to scream anymore.

Stiles rushed me threw the doors and the faint ting was heard.

“I’m sorry but we’re—” Dr. Deaton’s voice stopped, “Oh, God. Bring her to the back.”

Stiles shuffled back there and laid me on the metal platform once again. I immediately curled into a little ball, trying to hold myself together to better stop the immense pain.

It didn’t work.

I screamed so loud that Jackson and Stiles had to cover their ears. I rambled on about nonsense as Dr. Deaton examined the damage. I was pretty sure the last thing I’d said to Peter (“Kill me!”) had burst from my mouth again.

I wished I was dead. The pain was so unbearable that I wanted Peter to come in here and slash my throat like he had my father’s.

I was unaware of anything Dr. Deaton was doing until he uttered the words, “I think I can save it.”

My breath hitched in my throat as he shook my shoulder lightly.

“Cassie, if you want me to, I think I can save it.” He said softly through my sobs. “Let me know and I can save it.”

I gasped for sweet air thinking about the choices in front of me. Either I terminated the pregnancy or Dr. Deaton could save it.

Earlier, my first instinct would have been to save it.

With what I knew now, I wasn’t so sure.

An ethical battle raged in my mind but reality was breaking through it.

Derek and I didn’t love each other. We hooked up one night in a moment of weakness and were dealing with the consequences. This baby shouldn’t have happened in the first place. If I got rid of it now, it would save everyone a whole lot of pain. There would no longer be a baby to give to Peter. There would no longer be a string attaching me to Derek (if he was even still alive). We only had brief moments of tenderness at best, nothing to build a sustainable relationship that could withstand the test of time and a family of hunters.

Allison’s cruel words rang in my mind, “ Why are you throwing away your life for someone who destroyed yours?”

Maybe it wasn’t fair to classify Derek as a destroyer of worlds but at that moment, in the intense agony I was in, I didn’t give a fuck.

I was sixteen years old. I was too young to have a baby in the most normal of situations. But, my situation was far from normal and there was no outcome where this baby would have a normal life. It would be hunted and hated and eventually, killed like my parents.

The choice was mine and it was easy.

“Cassie,” Dr. Deaton urged me, “I need your answer or we’re going to lose the baby.”

“No,” I gurgled, gasping for air, dying for the pain to end, “Don’t.”