Transformed (Incomplete)

The Tell, Part VI

"You don't think Lydia knows about werewolves, do you?" I ask Stiles as we were walking out of Lydia's house.
"I don't - I don't know," Stiles answers. He fumbles for his keys in his pocket and opens his mouth to say something else. I don't hear what he says, though, because my senses are assaulted by a vision. A real one this time.
I watch as Allison's aunt, whose name I've learned is Kate, approaches Derek's house, followed by two other hunters. It's one of those visions that come with bonus audio included. My favorite.
"He wants us to wait," the hunter to Kate's left says.
"So I've been reminded," Kate retorts impatiently. She gives the man a look. "To death."
"And that means we're not allowed to kill him," the other hunter adds.
"But it doesn't mean we can't say 'hello,'" Kate stares at the building in front of her.
The vision disappears, slowly fading back to Lydia's driveway.
"Emerson? Hello? Earth to Emerson," Stiles is saying as he waves his hands in front of my face. I blink rapidly, jumping back. "Did you just - Did you just have a vision?"
I nod slowly, feeling like I'm waking up a from a dream.
"That was so creepy, Em," Stiles tells me. "Seriously, you just stopped walking and - and stared off into space."
"I'm sorry," I apologize, snapping back to reality. "We've got to go to Derek's house."
I pull Stiles towards the Jeep.
"Why? What's happening or - or about to happen?" Stiles demands, slamming his door shut. He's backing out of the driveway before he's even buckled.
"Put a seatbelt on and I'll tell you," I say, pulling my own seatbelt across my chest. But before I can tell him, another vision starts.
I see one of the hunters kicking down Derek's front door. I can feel myself leaning forward in my seat, trying to see better.
"No one's home," the hunters announces to the other two.
"Oh, he's here," Kate sounds confident. She smirks and looks around the dirty room. "He's just not feeling particularly hospitable."
"Maybe he's out burying a bone in the backyard," the other hunter chimes in.
"Really?" Kate scowls at him at the same time I do. "A dog joke? We're going there and that's the best you got? If you wanna provoke him, say something like, 'Too bad your sister bit it before she had her first litter. Too bad she howled like a bitch ...'" Kate trails off, turning around. "'... when we cut her in half!'" she screams the ending and her shouts are answered by a deafening snarl.
The hunter who made the joke about a bone is thrown against the wall and Derek kicks the other one to the ground. The werewolf snarls at Kate, baring his sharp teeth. Kate pulls something out and my vision cuts away.
"No!" I shout, finding myself staring at a moving road instead.
"No?" Stiles swerves the Jeep in surprise.
"Drive faster!" My eyes are wide as I look over at Stiles.
"I'm already going twenty over. Could you just tell me what is happening?" my best friend asks.
"There are hunters at Derek's house," I explain. "And the goddamn vision stopped right as Allison's aunt was about to attack!"
Stiles pushes the pedal farther and I lurch backwards.
"He's going to be fine, alright?" Stiles assures me, watching my bouncing leg.
"I know," I nod, looking out the window.
"You don't look like you know," Stiles replies sarcastically. Then, he turns serious. "He's a werewolf. He can handle a few hunters."
"Yeah, I -" I start. I'm pretty sure I hear myself swear as another vision starts.
Derek's on the floor, grunting and trying to crawl away from Kate, who walks after him lazily. He pulls himself halfway up on a chair and Kate reaches out leisurely, shocking him with the stick in her hands. He falls to the floor again.
"Derek ..." I hear my own voice and I sound like a child.
Kate laughs and lights up the stick again, staring at it in wonder. "Nine hundred thousand volts," she clicks her tongue and sighs. "You never were good with electricity were you? Or fire."
Derek rolls himself onto his side.
"Which is why I'm gonna let you in on a little secret," Kate moves towards him again. I want to jump in between them, but I knew that even if I could, I wouldn't do much. "And, well, maybe we can help each other out."
I feel a hand shaking my arm, but it feels a million miles away.
"Yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to try and catch you," Kate continues, watching Derek struggle in pain on the floor. "Unpleasant. And frankly, a little too Texas Chainsaw Massacre for my taste, but quite true. Now, here's the part that might really kick you in your balls - we didn't kill her. You think I'm lying?"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Derek's voice is barely there, wavering more than Jackson's did in the locker room, but it feels good to hear it.
Kate clicks her tongue again. "Sweetie ... well, why don't you just listen to my heart and tell me if I am. Okay?"
I decide in that moment that I hate Kate and her condescending voice and her messed-up morals. I also decide that I hate having the ability to just sit and watch things. I hate feeling powerless like this. Somewhere, far away comes a sense of comfort, though.
"We ... didn't ... kill ..." Kate moves closer and closer to Derek with every word. " ... your ... sister ..." By the time she finishes, she's whispering it right into his ear. "Do you hear that? There's no blips or upticks. Just the steady beat of the cold, hard truth." She gets up and turns away. I understand, now, why Derek wanted Jackson to say that he didn't see anything slowly. Werewolves can hear when someone is lying by their heartbeat.
I watch Derek gasping on the ground, leaning against the wall.All I want to do is run up and give him a giant hug. He looks so sad and hurt, barely sitting up on his floor.
"They found bite marks on your sister's body, Derek," Kate tells him. "What do you think did that? A mountain lion?" she laughs. "Why aren't we helping each other out? You might as well admit what you've been guessing all along, which is ... the Alpha killed your sister. And all you have to do is tell us who he is, and we'll take care of it for you. Problem solved, everybody goes home happy ... Unless ... you don't know who he is either," Kate chuckles again. "Wow. Guess who just became totally useless."
Kate turns and lights up the room with machine gun fire. I scream, lunging forward. It's almost as if I forgot I was not actually there. I look around the Jeep wildly, my eyes damp. My heart pounds and my breaths come in short and quick. I look down and realize that Stiles is holding my hand. When I look over and meet his eyes, he pulls it away and maneuvers the Jeep through the woods.
"How close are we?" I ask, still trying to catch my breath.
"We're almost there," Stiles informs me. I furrow my eyebrows at him.
"How long was I out for?"
"At least three minutes," he says. "Are you okay? That was a really long one and -"
"I'm fine!" I snap. His face falls. "I'm sorry."
I can see Derek's house appear and another car parked out front. I know it belongs to the hunters. Stiles stops the Jeep behind a group of trees, far away and out of sight.
"So, we're here - what are we doing?" Stiles asks the question I had been avoiding.
"No idea," I open my door and lower my feet to the ground.
"No - no, Emerson!" Stiles' eyes widen. "You can't get in between Derek and the hunters!"
I shift my weight between my feet nervously. I already knew that.
"I can't do nothing," I protest. I just spent three minutes sitting by helplessly. How could I let it play out in real time without doing anything? Suddenly, the machine gun fire from my vision rings out through the woods.
"Holy shit!" Stiles cries out. "Was that gun shots?"
I'm frozen. All of this about I have to do something and when the moment comes, my feet fail me.
Then, something catches my eye in Derek's yard. It's none other than the werewolf himself, sprinting right in our direction.
"Derek?" I ask, squinting. He hesitates, his strides slowing, when he hears my voice. Without thinking, I do the one thing I'd been wanting to do the entire time I was watching him being tortured by Kate. I run up and wrap my arms around him. To my surprise, he returns the gesture, albeit it awkwardly.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demands. "There are hunters in my house right now -"
"I know," I pull back and look up at him. "I just had to make sure you were okay."
"You need to go," Derek scowls.
"I will," I scowl back and walk to the Jeep. Stiles stares at me as I climb in. "What?"
"Did you just hug Derek Hale?"
"Yeah, I think ... I think that's what I just did," I bite the skin around my fingernail.
"So ... wanna tell me what that was all about then?" Stiles spazzes and raises his eyebrows.