In Too Deep | Derek Hale (Book 1)

one. strange places

"Battle not with monsters

lest you become a monster

and if you gaze into the abyss

the abyss gazes into you."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

✧ ✧ ✧

When the sun started to set, Mia checked her watch.

"How long 'til we get there?" she asked, glancing out the window at the passing cars on the highway. The roads had gotten significantly quieter since they had left San Francisco. Her father didn't answer, so she added, "I wanna make sure we have time to unpack. I need to get ready for tomorrow."

"You're not the only one," Allison chimed in.

They were moving, again, to a small town, the name of which was too insignificant to remember. Mia's family had been all over the place - San Francisco, Seattle, even Paris, but those were bigger cities with bigger issues. There was nothing important about a small, middle-of-nowhere town.

Beacon Hills. That was the name.

She heard her father sigh and finally give in, "Forty-five, maybe an hour."

"Shit," Mia muttered. By the time they got there, it would already be midnight.

"Amelia," her mother glanced at her through the rearview mirror. Her face was pinched tensely, like it usually was, "Watch your tongue."

"Sorry."

"Do you think they have a mall over there?" Allison asked, a bitter smile on her face, "Or any kind of entertainment, for that matter?"

"I don't know," Mia hummed, "Who knows if there even is a high school. We might have to just help mom and dad around a farm for the rest of our days. Go into the woods to chop wood and hunt deer."

"Stop being dramatic," their father, Chris, said.

Allison snorted, putting on a ridiculous country accent, "Oh, I hope there are no big bad wolves out there! How will I, a simple country girl, protect myself?"

At the mention of wolves, the other three people in the car tensed. Allison was still delivering her monologue. Mia glanced at her dad, then her mom, then made sure to laugh so Allison wouldn't catch on to the change of atmosphere in the car.

Allison was the only one who didn't know their family secret. Their parents had introduced werewolves and hunters to Mia when she turned eighteen. They presented everything to her like a child - carefully, simplifying the information so that she wouldn't freak out too much. Of course, she did end up freaking out - in silence, imploding in her own head. As soon as they were done explaining, she smiled and locked herself up in her room.

She spent exactly three days there, trying to process everything. It was a shock, and for a while, it felt like some sick prank. When she had started to accept it, her father took her on one of the hunts, so she could see them with her own eyes.

Werewolves. At first, they just looked like humans with glowing eyes and a little bit too much body hair. Then, when one of them almost tore her hand off and decapitated a hunter, Mia realized they were monsters.

Allison was almost seventeen. She had a little more time left until her world would be shattered as well.

"Amelia, I expect you to pull yourself together this year. Just because we're moving to a cheap, ratty town, doesn't mean you're allowed to slack off right before graduation," her mother said, throwing her a stern look. "Don't forget to sign up for the swim team, if they even have one."