Kids in the Dark [S.S. Book One]

Thirty-Two

In Derek's loft, Cora started telling us a story about what werewolves were supposed to do. "They were there for two days, waiting, hiding. That's what we're taught to do when the hunters find us... hide and heal."

Stiles frowned. "Okay, so is two days standard, then, or are we thinking Derek's on, like, some extended getaway?"

I swatted my boyfriend's chest as I gave Cora an apologetic look. In return, Cora glared at him. "Why do you care?"

Stiles scoffed. "Why do I care? Let's see... because over the last few weeks, my best friend's tried to kill himself. His boss nearly got ritually sacrificed. A girl that I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed. Boyd was killed by alphas. Something is going on with my girlfriend. I... do you want me to keep going? 'Cause I can, alright? For, like, an hour."

Cora scoffed. "You think Derek can do anything about that?"

Stiles gave a small shrug. "Well, since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it, yeah."

Cora shook her head. "I don't know. There's something different about him now. He wasn't like this when we knew him?"

"What was he like before?" I asked curiously.

A new voice sounded. "A lot like Scott, actually. A lot like most teenagers... unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, tolerable really only to other teenagers."

"Oh. It's you," I retorted as I glared at Peter. "Welcome to the party, Psycho Wolf."

"Hello to you too, Alyssa."

Stiles narrowed his eyes slightly at Peter. "And so what happened? What changed him?"

"Well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men... A girl."

Stiles scoffed. "You're telling me some girl broke his little heart? That's why Derek is the way he is?"

"Do you remember Derek before he was an Alpha had blue eyes? Do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?"

Stiles shrugged, showing his confusion. "I just always thought it was, like, a genetic thing."

"I remember reading something about werewolves awhile ago. It has something to do with taking an innocent's life. So the question is, whose life he took."

"How do you know that?" Stiles asked in surprise.

"I enjoy reading books on supernatural creatures, smartie," I answered.

"Alyssa's right. If you want to know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the color of his eyes."

Stiles and I listened to Peter tell a story about a young Derek Hale and a girl named Paige Krasikeva. Throughout the story, I saw Stiles' face contort further and further into confusion. Sure enough, his confusion caused him to ask, "Okay, so if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he? How old were you? How old are you now?"

Peter shrugged and said vaguely, "Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think."

"Okay, that was frustratingly vague," my boyfriend answered in annoyance as he looked at Cora. "How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen," Cora replied.

Stiles pointed to Cora. "See, that's an answer. That's how we answer people."

"Well, seventeen how you'd measure in years," Cora added.

Stiles huffed in an irritated tone. "Alright, I'm just gonna drop it. What happened to Derek and the cello girl?"