CONTROL ➳ D. HALE [2]

33 ; remembrance

33 ➳ REMEMBRANCE

"Is there anything else that you can remember?" the officer asked. The bright fluorescent hospital lights made Elise's head ache and her vision whirl. The others were being questioned at the police station, but Elise's injuries meant that she had to go to the hospital. It seemed that that hadn't stopped the officers from finding her.

Elise took a shaky breath, wincing as the nurse continued to stitch her wound. "I don't... it just happened so fast," she breathed.

"Can't you wait and do this another time?" Derek frowned from where he was standing next to Elise, aiming a deadly glare at the officer. "She's in the hospital, for crying out loud!"

The police officer flashed Derek and Elise a sympathetic look, her long braid trailing over her shoulder as her chocolate eyes focused on the pair of them.

"Listen, I understand that it's difficult," she said softly. She placed a kind hand on Elise's wrist, her dark bronze skin contrasting with Elise's olive-toned arm. "But the longer we wait, the more cloudy the details will become and the chance of us catching these guys gets smaller and smaller." Elise nodded slightly, chewing her bottom lip. "What if we go over what you've already told me?"

Elise nodded meekly. Her cheeks were speckled with blood and her eyes were bloodshot and empty of emotion.

"Alright," the woman began. "So, your brother and his friends went out late to go exploring. You decided to go with them to make sure they didn't get into any trouble, correct?"

"That's right."

"When you all got out of the car, a couple of men came out from the shadows. One of them had a knife?"

"It might've been a knife," Elise nodded. "It was dark, I couldn't really see."

"Of course," she said. "These men attacked you. When you guys tried to fight them off..."

"They killed her," Elise said blankly. "They just... killed her."

The officer nodded, her lips forming a thin line. "Then, you called Chris Argent, Allison's father right away." She cast a glance toward Derek before adding, "What brought you there?"

"Argent and I were together when he got the call. We were meeting for business," he explained. Derek took a seat next to Elise, the paper lining of the hospital bed shifting under the added weight.

Elise knew that wasn't the truth. Derek had told her before they'd left to find Lydia that someone had gone after the twins, leaving them riddled with wolfsbane bullets. Derek had called Argent for help getting them to the loft. That had been why they were together.

"What kind of business?" The officer asked.

"Financial," Derek lied.

The officer nodded slightly and Elise leaned into Derek's touch as he placed a reassuring hand on her back, finding comfort in the gesture. "Alright, then, I guess we're done here," she said kindly as she got to her feet. "Now, you two go home and get some rest," she added. The pair nodded and moved to get to her feet, relieved to finally be able to leave.

"Actually," the nurse that had been stitching Elise's wound interjected as Elise and Derek turned to the exit. "I do need you to fill out some paperwork. It could take a while."

Elise tensed as she looked at the nurse. "Okay," she said quietly. The nurse nodded before leaving the room to gather the forms Elise would need to fill out. The officer offered a polite nod to the couple left in the room before she exited, as well.

"You should go," Elise whispered as she turned to Derek. "I'll meet you at the loft when I'm done."

His brows jumped upward in shock as he looked at her. "What? No, I'm staying with you."

Elise shook her head. "Derek, the twins need you." The air in her lungs felt heavy as she added, "Please, we can't lose anyone else," Elise said, a knot forming in her chest as her quiet voice cracked, distracting herself by brushing a few unruly hairs from his face."I'll be okay."

Derek eyed her with a hesitant expression written across his face. He wanted to stay with her, Elise knew that. But more than that, Elise knew that the twins were dying and Derek could save them.

Derek nodded slightly. "Alright," he agreed. "I'll head to the loft." Elise offered a small smile as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She savored the comfort that the feeling of him returning the embrace offered. "Be careful," he whispered. "Please."

➳

Elise sighed as she entered the loft, finding it unexpectantly empty. "Where are the twins?" She asked as Derek looked up at her entrance. Unspent power bubbled beneath her skin, begging to be unleashed. If chaos truly bred magic, Elise had no doubt that the reins to her abilities were already slipping out of her grasp.

"They went to find Scott," he said. "They'll be perfectly fine in a few hours."

Elise nodded slightly, her eyes catching on a small puddle of blood on the cement floor. She quickly averted her eyes, instead training them on Derek.

Somehow, whatever restraint she'd managed to keep over the past twelve hours slipped away as he met his gaze. Tears welled up in her eyes as he neared, his lips parted slightly in shock. He reached forward, drawing her into his arms.

Elise felt her wall crumble around her as the emotions she'd been fighting back all day forced their way out. "It's my fault," she gasped, tears forming in the rims of her eyes as her shoulders began to shake. "It's all my fault."

"Hey," Derek whispered soothingly. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, resting his hand against her hair as she clung desperately to the fabric of his shirt. "No, it's not. You couldn't have stopped it. No one could have."

"No, you don't understand," Elise muttered, pulling away from him slightly as tears streamed down her cheeks. The pain that she'd knotted up in her chest and locked away broke free, sinking like a stone until it struck her core. "I could've stopped it."

"Elise-"

"I looked at Allison and I-I knew something was going to happen. I felt it," she said between shaky breaths. His hands rested on her arms reassuringly as she continued. "I let her go in there, Derek. I let her..."

Derek drew her into his arms again as her shoulders began to shake violently. "Everyone knew the risks of going against the Nogitsune. If you hadn't gone in there, you would've lost Lydia and Stiles, too."

Elise took a shaky breath, trying and failing to steady her breathing. Her tears snaked down her cheeks and stained the fabric of his shirt as she tightened her grip on him in return. "We still might."

➳

EEK so like this chapter I feel like has more emotion in it than the last one?I'm trying to pump out chapters as quickly as possible because I really need to start on my summer assignment (a 500 page novel that I have to annotate in depth) and I haven't started anything hahahahahhelpme. Also like,, this chapter completely sucked and I'm sorry. ON AN IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm looking for ideas for ocs to introduce to the next book! I already have a few distinctly laid out, but I want to make the final part of this series something special yk? PLEASE comment characters that you would like to see introduced to the next book! It can be something as simple as "someone looking for help" or something as complex "as a full witch coven with (insert request here)"!
Words: 1285

Feedback is most appreciated <3