Through the Eyes of the Broken

A couple of days went by and everything was calm for the most part. Derek wasn't talking to me like usual, but I was fine with it. I now had Peter to talk to even though he was busy at times trying to get Scott to join the pack and planning his revenge. Unlike Derek, he was keeping me in the loop for the most part.

"You are seriously going out with Scott's mom?" I asked, trying to hold back a laugh. Peter seemed to think that taking her out and making Scott think he would change her would change his mind about joining the pack. I may not know Scott very well, but I had serious doubts that this would work.

"Yes," he answered as he put his jacket on. "It's been quite awhile since I've been on a date. How do I look?" he asked, being completely serious.

"You look great!" I grinned as I got up out of the chair to give him a hug. "And if things do work out like you want them to, could you not come back to my hotel room?" He laughed as I pulled away. "Seriously. Get your own room."

"Okay," he smiled before grabbing what he needed and leaving my hotel room.

I sat back down in the chair as I began looking through a photo album Peter had gave me. It had been one of the few things that survived the fire that someone took from the house. He had went to retrieve it from wherever he had kept it these years after seeing the photo I found in my room. He also surprised me by getting a new picture frame to put it in.

The photo album had pictures of everyone including me. There would be some pictures where certain members of the family would have glowing eyes. When I asked Peter about it, he explained that it had to do with being a werewolf, but they could learn to control it. If it weren't for those pictures, it would seem like they were an ordinary family.

I ran my finger over the last picture in the album dated a few months before the fire. I could vaguely remember the day. It must have been one of those times where someone got a camera out and snapped a photo to capture the moment. You could tell that everyone who was captured in the picture was laughing or smiling, including me. It was amazing how fast life could change.

I closed the photo album before laying my head down on the table. It angered me that someone could even burn an entire family alive. Revenge was wrong, that much I knew, but then again it felt so right. Kate Argent deserved what was coming for her just like the others who were involved. It frightened me a bit that I even thought this way. It made me wonder if I had been around Peter and Derek too much.

I sat back up taking a quick glance towards the clock on the night stand to see a couple of hours had quickly passed. I was tired even though I didn't even do much today. I was beginning to get tired of doing nothing. My plan was to get a job as soon as the werewolf drama ended. I wanted to have my own apartment or at least somewhere to stay other than this shitty hotel. There was also the fact that I was needing new clothes and a car. I hated the fact that Derek was the one mostly paying for everything so far. Peter also gave me some money, but it doesn't last long when a girl has to eat, and food isn't exactly cheap.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail before flipping the light switch off and getting into bed. My phone was placed on vibrate in case Peter or Derek needed me. I took one last look at the time before falling asleep.

My phone went off, startling me awake. Seeing that it was Peter, I answered it. "Hello?" I took a quick glance at the clock on the night stand to see that it was early in the morning. The sun was just beginning to peak through the curtains.

"Have you heard from Derek?" he asked as I rolled over onto my other side so I wasn't facing the window.

"Of course not. Why?" I questioned as I began to wonder what happened this time.

"I'll call you right back," Peter said before ending the call. I gave my phone a confused look before shaking my head in disappointment. Of course whatever was happening meant keeping me out of the picture again.

It wasn't even ten minutes later and Peter was calling back. At least he kept his word. "Derek's missing. I believe the Argents have him."

"What?!" I asked as I sat up in bed. "What do they want with him?"

"Most likely to get to me. I might need your help finding him."

"How am I supposed to help?" It wasn't like I could track him, and I personally didn't know the Argents. Allison was the only one I had met and that was very brief.

"I'll pick you up in five," Peter said before ending the call.

I got out of bed quickly to put my shoes on and grab my jacket, not really giving a shit that I was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. I was worried sick that Derek was in danger. I didn't want to think about what could be happening to him if Peter was right. Every time I gained someone, I felt like I was going to lose them just as fast.

Instead of waiting for Peter to come to me, I went out to the parking lot. I kept a lookout for the rental car Peter was driving as well as my surroundings in general. There was a family packing up their car nearby and a few more people who were talking near another car at the other end of the parking lot. Nobody seemed out of place or like they were watching me, so I felt safe.

I began trying to stay warm from the cold morning chill. I was beginning to regret not changing clothes since I was outside in shorts. It wasn't freezing cold, but it was winter time and mornings were never warm, especially at this time.

When Peter pulled up next to me, I got in the car. "What exactly happened?" I asked before we even left the parking lot. Peter quickly told me as much as he knew and could figure out.

"Really? Can either of you guys let someone live?" I sighed before getting back to the point of Derek being missing. "So, Scott was the last with Derek, yet you can't get to Scott? You want me to talk to him? I know he doesn't trust me too much, but I get along with him better than I do with Stiles."

"You can try. I was just going to go after Allison," Peter smirked.

"Great. You be creepy and I'll try to find Scott. Where can I find him?" I asked.

"His house, school. Wherever else you would find a sixteen year old boy." I frowned a bit at the age Scott was.

"I still hate the fact that you probably ruined his life. He's not much younger than I am." Peter shrugged, not really caring about what someone else thought. It was just the way he was.

Peter stopped a block away from Scott's home. He was using his hearing to see if he was home for me as I sat quietly in the passenger seat. "Stiles is with him, but it's just the two of them." I nodded before opening the door to get out. "Just a little advice," Peter spoke, stopping me from getting completely out. "You probably shouldn't mention that you are helping me."

"Got it," I smiled before closing the door. Peter pulled away, leaving me alone on the sidewalk. I waited a few seconds before slowly making my way to the house Peter had pointed out for me.

I hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. I didn't know what to say exactly. Should I just right out ask him what happened to Derek? Or was it better to make a bit of a conversation first. When the door opened to reveal Scott, my brain made the decision to just flat out ask Scott what happened to him.

"Why do you want to know?" Scott narrowed his eyes at me in suspicion before taking a step out to look around outside.

"Because Derek..." I had to choose my words wisely for this to work. "He's pretty much the only family I got."

"Stiles told me about you," Scott said before moving to the side to let me in. I quietly thanked him as I stood awkwardly near the wall.

"Aw, dude! You let her in? She's totally working with two psychos," Stiles said after seeing me when he came down the stairs. Scott sent him a look which basically told him to shut up. "All right! Fine! But I still don't trust her."

"I'll tell you what I know about Derek if you answer me this; how do you know the Hales?" Scott asked as he watched me carefully. I knew it would be pointless to lie to him, and I wanted to have some information to give to Peter that might help us with finding him.

"It's a long, tragic story, but they took me in after my parents died. I was only three at the time, but they treated me like family as I grew up." I hoped my answer was good enough for Scott.

"She's telling the truth," Scott told Stiles.

"Or she's just really good at lying. She just admitted to being raised with wolves. Who's to say they didn't teach her how to not get caught lying?" I rolled my eyes at Stiles' stupid theory. Why would I even lie about something like that.

"Weren't you the one who said you were going to dig up my past? Did that not work well with you or...?" I asked sarcastically.

"About that, there really isn't much about you. Kind of ironic that you don't even seem to have a birth certificate!" Stiles argued.

"What are you talking about? I have a birth certificate. I kind of had to have one when I got my license. Of course the original must have gotten burnt in the fire, but the family I was with managed to get a new one." I furrowed my brows as I tried to figure out how Stiles even got this information. Then I remembered he was the son of a sheriff. I'm sure he did a lot of snooping around.

"Guys, can we please stay on the subject," Scott interrupted before Stiles could speak again. I nodded to him so he could continue. "I last saw Derek last night at his house. We were soon being shot at with wolfsbane bullets, and he helped me escape. That is the last I saw of him."

"That's all?" I asked, realizing how much time I could be wasting on trying to find Derek instead.

He nodded. "I wish I could tell you more, but I don't know. I'm going to try and find him myself."

"Yeah, well good luck with that, and thanks for the help." I tried to sound sincere, but it came off more sarcastic than anything. I smiled before going to the door and waving goodbye.

"Wait!" Stiles said, stopping me in my tracks. I turned to face him so he could say whatever it was he was going to say. "Just out of curiosity, how did your parents die?"

"Car wreck," I answered as I wondered why he suddenly cared.

"Are you sure?" he asked as if he knew something I didn't.

"Yeah, I am pretty sure," I answered once more before rolling my eyes and leaving.

As soon as I was away from the house, I sent Peter a text asking him to pick me up. By the time he picked me up, I was already a few blocks from Scott's house.

"What did you find out?" Peter asked curiously.

"Not really anything useful. They were at the house when they were ambushed. Derek saved him I guess. He hasn't seen him since and also plans on searching for him."

"Dammit!" Peter growled, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

"Did you try to track him?" I asked, knowing that he probably did.

"No luck."

The car was silent after that, leaving us both to our own thoughts. Of course I was thinking up every horrible scenario possible that could happen to Derek. I wanted to help find him, but didn't know where to start. I was basically useless. Even if I did manage to find him, someone was probably guarding him. It wasn't like I could rescue him all by myself.

"I'm going to try and find Allison. Stay here in case Derek shows up," Peter said as he pulled into a parking spot at the hotel. I nodded before getting out. I was hoping whatever Peter was planning to do with Allison wasn't bad. I'm sure we could manage to trade her for Derek, then again I didn't really know the Argents.

Even though Peter told me to stay at the hotel, I had other plans. As soon as he was out of sight, I began jogging my way to the woods that lead to the Hale house. It seemed a bit off that Peter couldn't track him when that was where he last was. Maybe Peter had overlooked something. There could always be some clue left behind, and maybe I'd be the one to find it.

I began walking as I got close to the house. My eyes began searching for anything that seemed out of place while trying to listen for any noises around me. First, I went all around the house seeing nothing that could lead me to Derek. I went inside to see that walls had been broken from the last time I was here. Nothing else seemed out of place on the first floor, so I made my way upstairs. I had took quick glances into each room since it didn't look like anyone ever bothered to go up the stairs to begin with. The last place to check was the basement. Knowing what happened in there made me not want to even attempt searching it. I could only pray that he wasn't held captive in the basement.

I was getting ready to leave the house when I heard voices outside. I ducked under a window before peaking over it. There was a bald man and a girl with brown hair. I couldn't make out their conversation, but they were heading towards the house. The lady glanced right towards me, causing me to quickly duck back under the window. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the gunshot before the glass above me rained down on my head. I brought my arm up to cover my head as I closed my eyes. It took me a few seconds before I got up and ran towards the back of the house. I had a few gashes on my head from the glass that cut me allowing blood to trail down my face and into my eyes. There was another gunshot from behind me, causing me to jump again as I tried to dodge an unseen bullet. I began looking for a place to hide until they gave up and left me alone. There was no point in trying to outrun them if they were just going to shoot. The bad thing was that I didn't see anywhere to hide.

I began to run into another room when the man appeared in front of me. I began to panic as I backed up, trying to feel for an object behind me. He watched me closely as he slowly took steps towards me. I turned to run, only to find the girl now blocking the only other way out. She held a gun up to my head and I froze in place, waiting for her to pull the trigger. There was nothing I could do other than pray to get out alive in this mess. I wasn't strong enough or stupid enough to even attempt to take them out. I was a werewolf that could heal and more likely to actually survive the gunshot. I was a fragile, human being. Something which neither of these people seemed to care about.

"Don't shoot," the man said from behind me.

"Why? One shot and she'll be dead like the rest of them." The girl then smiled at me. Did she actually know who I was, or was she assuming?

"She's human. Her wounds aren't healing." I quickly began to think up a lie for the question I knew was coming next.

"Who are you and why are you here?" the girl asked as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She kept the gun aimed right at the middle of my head.

"I'm Chloe," I said quietly. "I heard this place was haunted and just wanted to check it out. I'm sorry if this your property. I didn't see any no trespassing signs," I lied.

"Where did you hear a stupid rumor like that?" she asked.

"People from neighboring towns. All I know is that a lot of people died in a fire here and they still haunt this place."

"If you were hunting ghosts, shouldn't you be here at night?"

"I never said I was that brave," I stated.

"What do you want to do with her? She can always go to the police and say we tried to kill her," the guy asked as if I wasn't there.

"I don't trust her," the girl answered, taking a quick glance at the guy. "She knows something that she isn't telling us."

"We can't kill her. We have a code," the man said.

"And I think I know how we'll learn what she is hiding," the woman said before hitting me on the top of the head with the gun, making everything go black.