Series Rewrite (A Teen Wolf Fanfiction) Continued

After Image Pt 1

   I went out for a run to relax myself after Lydia told us about Halwyn. I just needed a little time to be alone and let all of my thoughts go. I wanted to go as fast as I could and the only place I could do that without arousing suspicion was the woods. People were already scared enough of me, there was no need to freak them out further by running like a homeless man on bath salts.

The moon was high and the ground was covered in an opaque layer of fog that gave the woods an eerie feel. A large smile was on my face as the wind zoomed past me. I felt faster than the speed of light, running to my heart's content with nothing in my way. To add some excitement, I jumped through branches and over shallow ditches, occasionally throwing in some flips, but I always landed on my feet running. This was harder to do in Virginia, considering it was pretty much completely urban where we lived. No woods to hide myself in so I could run. I missed it.

I came to a dead stop when I heard a heartbeat racing that wasn't my own. In fact, there were a few heartbeats I was hearing. Sounded like three of them, one of them terrified, another nervous, and the last one calm. I sniffed the air, getting the strong scent of Brett's blood lodged in my nose. I couldn't smell anyone else over the scent of Brett and his fear, and I figured I was probably about to find out anyway, so it didn't matter.

Following the scent, I darted off in Brett's direction. There was cell phone ringing in the direction I was running, but I ignored it. It was either whoever was trying to hurt Brett or a distraction, and my main focus was on Brett. He may be an ass sometimes, but he was still one of us. I wouldn't let him die at the hands of some hunter.

Brett stood by a tree, smirking at two people. One I instantly recognized as Gerard but the other one was a short black girl who had a gun aimed directly at Brett's head. Her's was the nervous heartbeat I heard, but she also exuded confidence. Maybe too much of it. Before the shot she fired could hit his head, I yanked him by the back of his shirt out of the way, then kept pulling him to run with me. The bullet had hit his shoulder, so he was a little stunned as we ran. Once his mind caught up, I let go so he could run on his own.

"We have to throw them off the track," I told him. He nodded so we slowed down. Taking a moment to breathe, he dug his claws into the gaping wound on his shoulder. With the blood he cupped in his hand, he splattered it on a nearby rock. He did that while I went back and scattered the leaves we'd stepped on to cover our footprints. I came back to him and started to rip off the bottom of his shirt. "We have to stop the bleeding."

He stood there, letting me wrap the strip around his shoulder. "Why are you helping me?"

"Despite how you treat Liam sometimes, I actually like you. You don't deserve to die like this."

He asked no more questions, so I stayed quiet, tightly knotting the fabric. When he winced at the feeling, I mumbled my apologies. "Okay, let's keep going."

He pulled on my arm to keep me from running off. Panting, he pointed downwards at the manhole cover. I wasn't sure it was the best option, but it seemed to be our only one considering how weak he was. I nodded, but instead of going down, he started making a stack of rocks on the ground.

"Lori will know what it means," he said. I just shrugged and glanced around for Gerard and his follower as I pulled the cover off. I let Brett go down first as I sent a quick message to Scott. I wasn't sure it sent since there wasn't any service out here, but I didn't have the time to make sure. Shoving it back in my pocket, I climbed down the ladder into the tunnels, replacing the lid over us so Gerard might be tricked into passing us.

But this was Gerard. He was an Argent after all. Just in case, I helped a weakening Brett back to his feet, his arm over my shoulders, and dragged him down the tunnel. There was nowhere but endless hall here, and it seemed we would never find a nook to hide ourselves in. Brett and I were masking our scent, but Gerard didn't work by scent. It wouldn't matter where we were, he would probably find us. When Brett's head started to lull, I jolted him back up.