I M P U L S E | Jackson Whittemore [2]

13: Creation

Annie arrived to the sounds of gunshots and screams being heard from a distance away. She looked down at the yellow, wild wolfsbane laced arrow that would do irreversible damage against the target's bloodstream. She armed herself with several weapons, including her handy bow and arrows, ring daggers, and even a handgun hidden away in the back of her pants. After considering her options, she decided the best strategy would be finding high ground and attacking from above. This way, she could also size up some of her potential predators without revealing her identity.

As she immersed herself into the forest, Annie thought about Jackson. She knew to some people, her feelings and hatred towards Jackson was irrelevant or didn't exactly make sense. They did, of course, have a mutual breakup and agreed to part ways. However, even before that day, Annie felt an incredible heartbreak from the man she loved. Subsequently, some of the things Jackson did weren't necessarily his fault. Being controlled as the Kanima and forced to kill innocent people isn't everyone's first choice of how to spend their day. However, the legend states that the creature you become after the bite is manifested in the person you truly are. So, somewhere deep down, in a very demented and dark side of Jackson, wasn't there some power-hungry, murder-loving, selfish part of him?

Then again, it was selfish of her, to blame the creation of this monster she was forced to become on Jackson... but wasn't he responsible? She was sixteen and naive and incredulous to the dangers of the real world. By becoming involved with Annie and pursuing her even after he realized the monster he truly was, Jackson pulled Annie deeper and deeper into the depths of the supernatural and continuously exposed her to risk. He forced her to fear for her life, anticipate danger around every corner, and live through haunting scenes of brutality and murder. The worst part is that he claimed to love her through it all, but why wasn't that enough for him to push her out of danger's way and accept help.

Annie scaled a tree once she was about 200 meters from where the fight was occurring. She could tell by the sounds of supernatural roars of anger. She could make out a transformed Scott, claws extended and fangs protruding from his mouth as he fiercely attacked the famous Jennifer Blake in front of him. Annie was astonished by the normalcy of the woman's character. She truly did resemble a simple, petite woman, rather than a blood-thirsty, supernatural, darach. Besides Scott was an older man, and one could only connect the dots back to Deucalion.

That was him, then, the final target of the night.

It become obvious after talking with Deaton about dangers of Deucalion becoming even more powerful after killing Jennifer, that the only clear solution was to eliminate him completely. Therefore, Annie planned to do exactly that. With her wolfsbane arrow and new attitude, she was simply unstoppable. She climbed down from her spot in the tree and secured her weapons one last time before battle, checking and rechecking each weapon for accuracy. As she began to take her first step, she was alerted by leaves crunching under the weight of someone's feet behind her.

She quickly turned, arming her bow with an arrow from her quiver, loading it in mere seconds and having it poised on her potential predator. When she recognized the person in front of her, her weapon didn't change. She remained zoned in and locked on the target in front of her.

"I didn't know you were back in town," Derek said, easing a comfortable step away from Annie. His eyes sized the arrow aimed at his face and the girl behind the weapon. He still felt the guilt that swarmed him about taking part in murdering her mother. "We're both here for the same reasons, Annie," he said.

"Seriously, what is up with people thinking that we have the same motives?" Annie scoffed, thinking about that harsh conversation she had with Jackson, earlier. "We might be here to fight the same enemy, but I'm rather positive that our reasons differ from one another, greatly."