Transformed (Incomplete)

Heart Monitor, Part VII

I scowl as I open my locker door. It's my free period and there's no one in the hallways to see my sour face. I shove all my books in a messy pile and close the door before any can fall out. I'm on my way to the bathroom when a hand catches my arm, stopping me in tracks.

"Emerson," Derek says.

"Derek," I greet back. "I don't suppose you could just be here to take a trip down memory lane?"

"I came to ask you a question," he answers.

"Ask me a question like you ask Jackson questions or ask me a question like you did Monday night? No, wait, that was Tuesday morning. Two a.m. to be exact," I stare at the werewolf.

"Neither. Do you want to come to the hospital with me?" he asks. I blink in surprise. Somehow, I always find myself blinking in surprise when talking to Derek.

"Is this like a sneak-into-the-morgue-to-see-your-sister thing or a sneak-into-a-room-to-interrogate-a-man thing? Because I've done both of those already and they're not experiences I'd like to repeat," I can't seem to keep my tongue from being so sarcastic.

"Again, neither," Derek says. "To visit my uncle."

I purposefully don't blink so that I'm not, once again, blinking in surprise. Instead, I stare creepily because that's for a sure a better alternative.

"Sure," I answer slowly. Derek opens his mouth to say something, but I hold up a hand. "Don't tell Scott, don't tell Stiles, don't tell anyone. Got it."

"I was actually going to ask if you needed to get something from your locker first," Derek corrects me and smirks. My eyebrows shoot up.

"I do not," I reply. He turns and starts walking down the hallway; I follow after him. "This is your car?" I ask when we get to the parking lot.

"No, I stole it," Derek answers, looking at me pointedly. I roll my eyes. "Sarcasm, by the way."

"I gathered," I climb in the passenger side. I've never seen it close up or in the daylight before and it's quite nice inside.

"Better than that Jeep?" the werewolf raises his eyebrows. "Seatbelt," he adds as a side note, eyeing me.

"Not even close to the Jeep," I retort. The snap of my seatbelt echoes through the car.

"Right," Derek pulls out of the parking lot and turns towards the hospital. After a couple blocks, I look over.

"So, what does the spiral mean?" I ask.

"Correct me if I'm wrong - I'm sure you will - but you were in the room when I told Scott he doesn't want to know?" Derek raises his eyebrows at me. "You don't want to know either."

"I do want to know," I tell him. He doesn't answer me. "Fine."

I don't say anything else and eventually, he's pulling into the hospital parking lot.

"I had a vision of the spiral," I tell him as I'm climbing out. I close the door and lean against the car, crossing my arms. I can feel the car move as Derek gets out.

"Still not gonna tell you what it means," he says. The car shakes as he closes his door and I straighten, following him inside. As he's leading the way through the hospital, I see Mom standing in the hallway. My eyes widen. She can't know I'm here when I'm supposed to be at the school studying and doing homework. I switch to the other side of Derek, hiding my face behind his big frame.

When we reach his uncle's room, I pause by the door as Derek walks in. I look around the little room. Just like the last time I was here, I get a strange feeling. Derek sits down on the bed and spins his uncle's wheelchair around to face him. The werewolf looks at me and pats the bed next to him. I've never seen Derek's face look like this before. It's sad. Kind of like the last time he visited his uncle, but it's not guarded like he was around Scott. I sit uncomfortably on the edge of the bed.

"I need your help," Derek tells his uncle quietly and ducks his head. I watch the side of his face as he looks back up at his uncle. "If you can hear me, I need you to give me a sign. Blink. Raise a finger. Anything. Just ... just something to point me in the right direction, okay?"

His lowers his head again.

"Someone killed Laura," he sounds broken when he says it, his eyes glued to the floor. "Your niece. Laura?"

I patiently stare at Peter, studying his face.

"Whoever he is, he's an Alpha now," Derek continues. "But he's one without a pack, which means he's not as strong. I can take him. But I have to find him first. Look, if you know something, just give me a sign. Is it one of us? Did someone else make it out of the fire? Just give me anything."

"Derek ..." I say softly.

"Blink," his voice is getting louder and louder. "Raise a finger! Anything! Say something!" Derek jumps up and grabs his uncle. I realize he's not angry. I can sense it. He's ... desperate.

"Let him go!" a voice calls from the door. Derek whips his head around to stare at the nurse standing there. "You think after six years of this, yelling at him is going to get a response?"

"You got a better method?" Derek demands angrily.

"Patience," the nurse, whose name tag reads 'Jennifer', replies. "He'll respond if you give him the time."

"I don't have any more time," Derek pushes past the nurse and storms out. I jump up from the bed and offer the redhead an apologetic smile as I hurry after Derek.

"You think the Alpha could be one of you? A Hale?" I rush out as I jog to catch up with him. "Why kill Laura then?"

"Because that's how you become an Alpha!" Derek snaps. "You kill an Alpha."

"You think it's possible someone else made it out of the fire, though? How did you get out?" I'm running out of breath.

"I didn't make it out," Derek pushes open the doors leading outside angrily. "I was at school when the fire was started."

I start running again to keep up with his long strides.

"Derek! Slow down!" I call in frustration. He stops in his tracks and turns around. I almost run into him. "You can find the Alpha without your uncle."

"How?" he demands, baring his teeth. "With Scott? Because that's not going so well."

He turns around to walk off again, but I grab his arm and spin him back around.

"Or with me. Or Stiles. We're not just clueless teenagers, you know," I gasp, rushing the words out in as few breaths as I can. "We all want the same thing here. You said the Alpha doesn't have a pack, so use the one thing you have that he doesn't."

"A pack?" Derek draws his eyebrows together.

"Yeah," I nod and swallow heavily. "Me, Scott, and Stiles - we're all your pack."

He turns away from me, but not before I see the corners of his mouth turn up.

"Get in the car," he tells me, opening his door. I obey and slide into the black seat. Derek looks at me again and opens his mouth to say something.

"Seatbelt, I got it," I slam the buckle down. "You and Stiles both."