The Alexandra Chronicles ¤ Derek Hale

Chapter 1

Thump.

The unwelcome sound pulls me straight out of my sleep, and for a moment I just sit there in the dark and listen. Maybe it was just the wind, or-

Thump thump!

A quiet breath escapes my lips as I cautiously pull myself out of bed; that's definitely not the wind, I was sure now. Grabbing my softball bat from my closet, I crept out of my bedroom and followed the sound downstairs. Just as I was reaching to open the front door, a body crashed into me from behind and I swung the bat at the figure. "Alex, it's me!"

I couldn't make out anything except my brother's silhouette in the dark, but I'd recognize his voice anywhere. With a huff, I stopped swinging the bat and turned, slowly opening the door. Scott and I stepped out onto the porch, looking around cautiously.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound and a person fell backward from the roof- or, rather, hung upside-down. Scott and I screamed and simultaneously started to swing our bats when we realized we knew this spastic intruder. "Stiles, what the hell are youdoing?!" Scott hissed, dropping his bat.

"Jesus Christ, are you trying to give us a heart attack?" I demanded, dropping my own bat.

"Scott wasn't answering his phone," Stiles said to me.

"And? You know where we keep a spare key. Use it next time!"

He rolled his eyes. "Why do you two have bats?"

"We thought you were a predator!" Scott exclaimed.

Stiles blinked a few times. "A pre- I- wha- Look, I know it's late, but you gotta hear this," he told us. "I saw my dad leave twenty minutes ago. Dispatch called. They're bringing in every officer from the Beacon department, and even state police."

Scott and I exchanged a look. "For what?" My little brother asked his friend. My eyes had started to droop, the exhaustion settling in again. I wanted to go back inside and leave Scott to deal with his nosy best friend, but something told me this was seriously important, so I refrained.

"Two joggers found a body in the woods," Stiles answered.

"Like a dead body?" Scott said, shocked.

I rolled my eyes and elbowed him. "Obviously," I retorted at the same time Stiles spoke with his usual sarcasm.

"No, a body of water." He scoffed. "Yes, dumbass, a dead body!"

Scott blinked. "You mean like murdered?"

"Nobody knows yet. Just that it was a girl, probably in her 20s."

I could see the excitement in Stiles's eyes and immediately knew where this was going. "Great, that's great, we can find out more when the police alert the public," I said with a pointed glance at Scott. "Now if you'll excuse us, Stiles, it's really late-"

"Hold on." Scott waved off my words and I scowled at him, but he was too busy talking to Stiles to notice. "If they found the body, then what are they looking for?"

Stiles grinned and finally climbed down from where he'd been hanging off of the roof. I was beginning to think too much blood was rushing to his head, but then again he was always popping Adderall, so he was probably used to the rushed feeling that it gave him. "That's the best part: they only found half." Stiles paused and turned his attention to my brother. "We're going," he declared.

Scott followed him off of the porch, leaving his bat behind. Knowing he wouldn't let his best friend go by himself if I told him to stay, I dropped my softball bat and ran after him. There was no way in hell I was going to stay home while my little brother went off into the woods in the middle of the night to search for a dead body. Especially when he was a severe asthmatic and the only other person with him was a spastic teenage boy who couldn't fend off a puppy if he had to. I mean, I'm not exactly the most capable fighter myself, but you know what they say- strength in numbers, right?