I N S T I N C T | Jackson Whittemore

41: that's not creepy

That's Not Creepy
Chapter Forty One

"It's not that deep, okay?" Kyle examined the bite on his wife's forearm, sure that Chris had adapted the same situation with Victoria who had also been bitten.

Gerard walked into the room, and Carrie smiled lightly, "It's all right. I'll clean it myself."

As she left the room, Kyle turned to Gerard, running his hands down his face. "It's not that bad. We don't know. We can't know. Not for sure."

Gerard sighed, "It's a bite from an Alpha..."

"She's my wife. Sam and Annie's mother."

"And I'm the cold-hearted patriarch holding his family to its commitments," Gerard said sternly. "We all have our roles. Just don't expect me to play poisoned king to your Hamlet of a son. Not with a full moon coming."

Kyle slammed his hand on the nearest coffee table, tears forming in his eyes and streaming down his face. "What about Annie and Sam? How am I supposed to get them through this? We just buried Kate!"

"Then tell me, how long is long enough? When exactly do you think they will be emotionally prepared enough to handle the death of their mother?" Gerard mocked.

"They can't lose her too."

"Ah, you're getting your tenses mixed up," he clicked his tongue. "Your wife is already dead, and that thing over there is just a cocoon waiting to hatch."

* * *

Derek and Scott had been fighting since the moment he woke up. The fatherly figure that Deaton had witnessed was vanished and douche-Derek was back.

"I'm saying we need a new plan, because next time, one of us is gonna be too hurt to heal," Derek argued.

Scott let out a frustrated groan, "Ugh, I get it. We can't save Jackson."

"We can't seem to kill him either. I've seen a lot of things, Scott. I've never seen anything like this. Every new moon's just gonna make him stronger."

Scott bit his lip, deep in thought, "But how do we stop him?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if we can."

Scott sighed, running a shaky hand through his hair, "Maybe we should just let the Argents handle it."

Derek closed his eyes, "I'm the one who turned him. It's my fault."

"Yeah," Scott admitted, "but you didn't turn him into this. I mean, this happened because of something in his past, right?"

Derek shook his head, "That's a legend in a book. It's not that simple."

"What do you mean? What are you not telling me?"

Derek gritted his teeth, "Why do you think I'm always keeping something from you?"

"Because you always are keeping something from me."

The two boys felt like an old married couple fighting. Both of them arguing over Jackson, and the plan, and just the smallest things. This new alliance wasn't going to be as easy as they thought.

"Well, maybe I do it to protect you," Derek contradicted.

"Doesn't being part of your pack mean no more secrets?"

Derek sighed, "Go home, Scott. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe. 'Cause the full moon's coming. And with the way things are going, I've got a feeling it's gonna be a rough one."

* * *

Annie had found Matt waiting at her car. Sam had driven her's, and Matt had told her that his had broken down. Feeling guilty for ditching him, Annie offered him a ride home, and Sam had said he was going to catch up with the team.

Driving him home was slightly awkward, the 10 minute drive stretching into a 20 minute one because of traffic. Questions and confusion filled the small space of Annie's car, and Matt just made it worse.

When Annie pulled up to the edge of Matt's driveway, she praised the lord for the end of that awkward drive.

"So, um, about that incredibly bad idea I had," Matt turned to her.

Annie smiled, scoffing a laugh, "You mean the kiss?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Don't worry about it."

"For real?"

"Definitely," Annie smiled, nothing but sadness behind the gesture.

Matt sighed, "So what's going on with you and Jackson? Are you guys--you guys still together or--or what?"

Annie sighed, "Not really..."

Matt let out an exasperated groan, "Not really. I--God, I hate not reallys. You never know what to do with not really."

Annie bit her lip, shaking her head, "Would you understand if I said it was complicated?"

"Not really," Matt cracked a smile, stepping out of Annie's car. "But I'll try."

Annie waved as he shut the door and she waited for him to get inside safely. When the door to his house finally clicked shut, she realized he had forgotten his camera bag. Pulling it open, she pulled out his camera that was already illuminating with a photo.

It was of the crowd at the lacrosse game. Continuing to scroll through, Annie smiled at all the cute and talented photos Matt had taken, until suddenly... she froze. Through the window of her house, Matt had taken photos of her sitting and reading. Photos of her in her bedroom doing homework, clearly taken from a distant advantage point.

Suddenly a knock on the window had Annie jumping, and she turned to see an off-looking Matt. She swallowed hard as he mouthed, "Open the window." Holding her breath, she rolled the window down, and Matt stuck his head in. "Heh. Forgot my bag."

Annie swallowed, putting the camera back into his bag, "Yeah, yeah."

"Some good pictures in there, don't you think?" he motioned to his camera. Annie had a chill go down her back. He knew she knew.

"Yeah, the lacrosse ones are amazing. You're really talented. I was-I w-I was really impressed," she nodded, her grip on the steering wheel tightening.

Matt smiled creepily, "There is a good candid of you in there too."

Annie gulped, "Really?"

Matt nodded, "You can see some of the others if you'd like. I mean, this... This tiny little screen doesn't really do it justice, but, uh, I could show you some on my computer."

Annie shook her head, "Oh, I would totally like that, but maybe another night."

Matt shrugged, "Well, just for a few minutes."

"It's getting kind of late."

Matt scoffed, "It's the weekend."

"I know, but I-You know, I--"

"And it's spring break," Matt cut her off. "I mean, you don't have a thing going on tomorrow. Do you?"

Annie nodded, "I should really get going."

"You sure?"

She nodded more vigorously, "I'm sure."

Matt smiled, "Okay."

As he stepped away from the car, Annie couldn't get away from the boy fast enough.
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Author's Note: Short, sweet, and simple. Go check out my other books, too.

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