That Girl (A Derek Hale Love Story)

Chapter 6

EDITED

Haylie decided against her iPod today. With everything that had happened, she didn't want music blasting in her ears she just wanted to think. Think about Scott, a boy she had known since preschool who was doing things, he couldn't do a few months ago. Stiles, her brother who had talked to her more in the last week then they had spoken all summer and Derek.

She had come to the conclusion she liked him. A dangerous like. A like that was forcing her to ignore all red flags and all warnings from her brother. A like that she didn't want any more now that all she could think about was how vulnerable he made her feel and how something was telling her don't trust him. It didn't matter how he was tall and handsome; he was older and mysterious, and Haylie was never the type of girl to drool over those types of guys. So, why was he now all she could think about, like an infection inside her brain.

In all of her thinking, she hadn't even realised how fast she had gotten. Her relaxing jog had turned into a stressed sprint without her even realising and now she was struggling to even catch her breath. She let herself come to a halt in the middle of a small clearing. Her heart was pumping so fast, she placed her hand over it to make sure it didn't leap out of her chest. She took a moment while shaking her legs to try and make sure they weren't about to fall off, to take in her surroundings. The tall trees and grey sky didn't feel gloomy like Fall should. It looked beautiful. However, of course the second she started to appreciate the beauty of the woods; it was tainted by the few drops falling on her bare skin.

If there was one thing Haylie knew wasn't a good idea, it was running in the middle of the woods in the rain when the ground was already covered in leaves and mud. It was an accident waiting to happen. Although, while the drops were still light on her cheeks, she figured she had some time to run back to the exit before it got worse.

She bent down to tie her trainers tighter for the potentially slippery run, when a sinking feeling settled in her stomach. It was a lot more intense than her gut feeling about the usual stupid things. It was bad, and not in a 'trust your instincts' way but in a 'you are in danger' way. The rain was still hitting her lightly, but it was a distant concern now. She really didn't want to look up from her shoe. More than anything did she not want to look up but, her body took over her mind and slowly her head lifted, and her eyes fell on something in the distance.

Haylie started to stand slowly as she looked in confusion at what appeared to be a giant rock. It was just a rock, she tried to tell herself but why could she not take her eyes off it as if it was something more. Just as she lifted her hand to move the sweaty hair from her forehead, she saw the big rocks head move. Except rocks don't have heads.

The hand reaching for her hair fell on her mouth instead to contain the sharp intake of breath. Her heart that had slowed from the short rest had begun to beat at an extraordinary pace. While the creature had lifted its head, it wasn't in her direction so she assumed if she stayed perfectly still it wouldn't become aware of her presence. Her body was frozen but the longer she stayed staring at the large black creature, the more feeling that came back.

With the small amount of feeling she had, she lifted her foot to take a step back but before she could move herself a second hand fell upon her own over her mouth. Another hand wrapped around her waist, trapping her free arm down to her side. It must have been the fear she was still engrossed in that stopped her from attempting a scream under the new hands.

The unfamiliar new arms pulled her carefully backwards and turned out of sight from the creature behind a tree. "Shh, it's me you're okay." The voice whispered in her ear but hadn't loosened the firm hold on her body. "You're okay." He repeated and when he felt her body relax a little, he knew she recognised his voice. "Don't make a sound." He ordered before slowly removing his hand from hers and waiting for her to slowly drop her own.