first love never lasts | teen wolf

one

Getting a call from the hospital really shocked Astrid to her core. It took a long minute for the information to load in her mind and fully seep in but once it did, she freaked out. Tears pooling in her eyes, she pulled out her phone from her back pocket. She tried calling for a cab but her hands were shaking like crazy. And the tears from her eyes dripped onto her phone screen. Taking a deep breath in and wiping her face with her jumper sleeve, she gave her phone a quick wipe on the side of her jacket and dialled the number for a cab. The time it took for the cab to arrive felt like forever to Astrid, checking the time on her phone every second. She quickly hopped in the cab and told him the location, and to hurry. And just like that, they drove off.

Astrid could not sit still. Her face was covered in tears and sweat and her entire body was shaking. She tried giving her sister a call but she wouldn't answer. It worried Astrid much more. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. But she had to stay calm and not think of the worst.

The twenty minutes it took for the cab to reach the hospital from the movie theatres was horrendous for Astrid. Gave her too much time to quack in her boots than she needed. She rushed through the doors as fast as she could, skidding to a stop as she reached the front desk.

'Where's my mum?' Astrid said to the lady at the front desk. 'Where is Areala Claire?' She hadn't even realised that her voice had risen. She didn't care. All she cared about was getting to her mother.

The lady pointed down the hall so that was where she went. Walking down the long, white corridor, passing by nurses, doctors and other patients until she got to the doors with a large, red emergency room sign on the front and a few surgeons surrounding her mothers body. And her mother's body lying unconscious, bloodied and bruised, on the operating table. Echoing through the doors, she saw one of the lady doctors hold up a defibrillator and say the word clear a couple of times, and her mum's body bouncing up and down as she did so.

Outside the doors, she waited, biting her nails and staring through the doors. Pacing. Hoping and praying her mother would be all right. But just like that everything took a turn. No... She heard a noise. A beep. The beep. The one that made her heart sink. The sound of the EKG machine that was hooked up to her mum flatlined out. Astrid's mum died right on the operating table and Astrid saw all of it. She watched as her mother flatlined in the room. All other sounds around Astrid faded out. She was paralysed by the sight. The disappointed gazes on the surgeons as they take off their gloves and surgical masks. The sight of her mother lying dead on the table all bloodied and bruised. She couldn't help but think of the destination her mum was driving to in order for her to get into that car accident. The movie theatres. Her mum was driving to the movie theatres to pick her up. And suddenly, her pain turned to guilt.

'Astrid?' Echoed a familiar voice behind her. She snapped from her guilty thoughts and turned around. A few feet away stood her sister, Davina with a look on her face she never wanted to see. More tears fell from Astrid's eyes as she ran toward Davina. She hugged her tight and she cried. She felt a number of things and it all came to her at once.

'Astrid? Astrid!' Astrid rose her head off her arm and removed her gaze from outside the window. 'Did you hear a word I said?' Derek said.

'Uh... no, no I didn't. Sorry.'

Derek looked at her then turned back to face the road.

'You were thinking about it again, weren't you?' Davina asked from the backseat.

Astrid nodded then crocked her head to look back out the window.

'You'll love it in Beacon Hills, don't worry.' Derek said. Astrid kept her gaze outside the window watching the trees pass her by. 'You'll go to a new school, make new friends.' Derek stayed quiet for a moment so Astrid looked at him. 'You'll be fine. You will live at the loft with me.' He gave Davina a quick glance, then one at Astrid, then back to the road. 'You two will get on just fine.' No one said anything for a while then Derek looked at Astrid. All she did was nod then turned away again, this time plugging in her earphones to drown out any noises.

Astrid was a bit iffy with the whole moving situation. New Orleans was her home. Born and raised. She hated leaving it. But she was also okay with it. Sort of. She had no other family in New Orleans so she had no choice but to leave. But she did like the idea of leaving the town that just reminded her of her mother and her death. So there were some plus sides. But another downer was she didn't like leaving her friends and her school. Her home.

**

Almost five hours of sitting in her cousin's musty car, they finally arrived in Beacon Hills. Astrid hadn't been to Beacon Hills in a long time. She went a few times when she was little but never went again. Her mum didn't want her to. She didn't say much, only that her dad lived there but he died and it reminded her of him too much. Astrid never knew her dad. Her mum didn't like to talk about him much so she doesn't know much about him.

Another fifteen minutes later and they arrived at Derek's loft. 'Okay, here we are.' Astrid looked out the window at his loft. It was a fairly large, brick building with multiple windows and layers.

'You own this place?' Astrid asked, shocked. She turned to Derek and he nodded. She chuckled and looked back out the window. She kept her eyes on the loft as she opened her passenger car door and walked out. 'Woah.' She said to herself.

She went to the boot of Derek's car and grabbed out her suitcase and backpack, then followed Derek into his loft. He slid the door open. Inside was even bigger. There was a very tall and wide window at the end of the room allowing the sunlight to shine right through. A couch pushed to the left side of the room, two tables - one in front of the couch and the other in front of the window, each with sets of chairs - and a bed in the corner on the other side.

'You sleep down here?' Davina said.

'What? Are there no rooms?' Astrid remarked.

Derek laughed. 'There are rooms, girls. It's just... comfier down here.'

Astrid and Davina shot looks at each other. 'Okay.' Astrid mouthed to herself with wide eyes then walked off.

'There are two rooms upstairs. Go pick one.'

Astrid and Davina both ran up the spiral staircase to the top layer. Davina got the first room. Astrid kept walking down the hall until she reached the other bedroom. She walked in. The double bed sat pushed up against the wall, in the middle, up against the window, next to a bedside table with a black shaded lap on it. She left her suitcase at the foot of the bed and dropped her backpack on top. She took a look around. It wasn't massive, but it wasn't small, either. It was just as she liked it. Enough room for herself without having too much room to spare and without feeling crowded. She opened the cupboard. One side having an open space, the other with drawers for her clothes.

Astrid heard a knock on her door. She closed her cupboard and turned to the door, 'Come in.'

The door opened and Derek walked in. 'How are you liking it?' He asked.

Astrid walked over to her bed and sat down. She shrugged, 'mm, not bad.'

He came over and sat beside her. 'Everything will be fine, okay? I promise you.' Astrid looked at him but didn't say anything. 'You'll start at Beacon Hills High tomorrow. For now, just... unpack and get settled in. If you need anything, let me know. Okay?'

She nodded and hugged him. Derek has always been there for her and Davina ever since they were kids. As kids, Astrid and Davina would come out to Beacon Hills to visit their uncle. But one day, they stopped and Derek started visiting them in New Orleans. She never understood the change but didn't complain because she still got to see him.

'Promise me one thing.' Derek said. She looked at him. 'No witch powers, please.'

Astrid was a witch. Her and Davina. But, with Astrid, she didn't have her own witch powers. She was a siphon witch. She could only access magic from other supernatural beings. She hated it. She loved doing magic but her only being a siphon made it hard to do so. But, being born into a family of witches and werewolves meant easy access to magic.

She laughed. 'I don't have much of a choice on that front.'

'Astrid this is serious.' She stopped laughing. 'There are a fair few creatures you can siphon from. You just need to be careful. For me, okay?'

'Don't worry, Derek. I'll keep a low profile.'

Derek smiled and left Astrid's room. She sat on her bed for a few minutes before getting up and unpacking her suitcase.