chapter sixteen

The doors to Derek's loft slid open, signalling that Jennifer had arrived. Harper's hand instinctively clasped Stiles' as she stood in between him and Scott, tucked away in the shadows where their English teacher couldn't see them. Stiles looked down briefly at their hands and squeezed her fingers comfortingly.

Her head was still bleeding, but Derek had given her a bandage as soon as they had rushed through the door to tell him what was going on with the Darach. Harper had linked to Scott since Stiles was so upset about his father it was starting to effect her negatively.

"Derek?" Jennifer yelled, her heels clicking on the floor as she rushed inside frantically, "Derek where are you?"

"Right here," Derek replied, walking towards her.

"Oh thank god," she sighed.

Lightening lit up the room from the outside, thunder clapping in the distance as she quickly grabbed the alpha into a tight hug, squeezing her eyes shut and breathing shakily. She pulled away, putting on an innocent face.

"Something happened at the recital. At the school," she rambled, "okay, I need to tell you before you heart it, before you hear any of it from them."

"From who?"

"Scott, Stiles, Harper. They're gonna tell you things. Things you can't believe. You have to trust me, okay?" Jennifer practically pleaded with him, "you trust me."

Derek frowned, "what is it?"

"Promise you'll listen to me."

The alpha paused for a second before giving a short nod, "promise," he confirmed.

And then she kissed him. The only sound was the storm in the distance, and when Derek didn't kiss back or wrap his arms around her like he usually would, she knew that something was off. Opening her eyes, she pulled away and looked at him with no expression.

"They're already here, aren't they?"

The three teenagers took this as their signal to come out from behind some crates, glaring at Jennier. Harper let go of Stiles' hand, instantly feeling cold, but she wrapped her arms across her chest. She was sure that she looked a mess with blood everywhere and her makeup washed off, but she didn't care.

"So," Jennifer attempted to keep the act up, looking back at Derek, "they told you it was me? That I'm the one taking people?"

Scott cut in, "we told him you're the one killing people," he spat.

"Oh, that's right," the dark haired woman chuckled sarcastically, "committing human sacrifices? What, cutting their throats? Yeah, I probably do it on my lunch hour. That way I can get back to teaching high school English the rest of the day. That makes perfect sense."

"Where's my dad?" Stiles ignored what she had just said, tears slipping down his cheeks.

"How should I know?" Jennifer shook her head, "Derek, tell me you don't believe this."

Derek looked away from his girlfriend, looking up at the three teenagers who were all staring back at him hopefully. Stiles couldn't stop the tears streaming down his face, and Harper held his hand again for comfort. For a moment, as she traced the skin on the back of his hand with her thumb, she forgot that they weren't even together anymore.

"Do you know what happened to Stiles' father?" He looked back at Jennifer, his tone hard.

"No!" She lied.

"Ask her why she almost killed Harper and Lydia," Scott glared.

Jennifer faked shock, "Lydia Martin? And this Harper?"

Harper snapped, "yeah, this Harper, the one bleeding from her head."

"I don't know anything about that!" She shrieked.

"What do you know?" Derek growled threateningly.

"I know that these teenagers, for whatever misguided reason, are filling your head with an absurd story. And one they can't prove, by the way."

Scott held up a jar of mistletoe, "what if we can?"

"What is that?" Jennifer stared at the jar, eyes wide with fear.

Scott began walking forwards as he unscrewed the lid, "my boss told me it's a poison and a cure, which means you can use it and it can be used against you."

"Mistletoe?" She realised before Scott threw the contents inside at her.

Their former English teacher screeched inhumanly as the brown powder formed a cloud around her. She waved her arms about, and then out of the shadows appeared a face. Milky eyes, rubbery skin as white as paper, blackened teeth, and deep, pink slashes replaced Jennifer's beauty. She let out a roar before managing to go back to her former state.

She breathed heavily as Derek stared at her, his blue eyes wide. He looked horrified.

Just as Jennifer dashed forwards to make a run for the door, Derek effortlessly moved in front of her and grabbed her neck. His face was hard, his eyes unforgiving.

"Derek, Derek, wait! You need me," she struggled to breathe with the grip he had on her.

"What are you?" Derek seethed.

"The only person who can save your sister," she clenched her eyes shut, "her life, it's in my hands!"

He lifted her up higher off of the ground, tightening his hold until Harper heard a small click. Scott called out for him to stop, but Stiles and Harper stayed out for it. They stood beside each other, watching them, alarmed.

But as Jennifer began to grunt, a sign that it was almost over for her, Stiles cut in, "stop. Derek, stop!"

Derek listened, giving Jennifer a chance to pull away to say, "Stilinski, you'll never find him."

"Derek!" Scott called as the alpha began to strangle her more, "Derek!"

The dark haired man threw her to the ground just as thunder rumbled in the distance. She breathed heavily, and Harper thought she was going to faint until she began to chuckle. It sent chills down the Empath's spine.

"That's right," she smirked, "you need me. All of you."

...

Rain poured down harshly against the windows of the jeep as it followed behind Derek and Jennifer. Scott and Stiles sat in the front seats as always, while Harper was in the back. Her connection to Scott made her feel fine, but she knew she couldn't stay connected forever. She knew as soon as he left she would have to sort herself out.

"I don't know, something just doesn't feel right," Stiles murmured, his eyes on the road, "you know, we proved it to Derek, and she still had this look like it didn't matter. You know, like it was all still going according to plan. You guys saw it, didn't you?"

Neither teenager said anything, but both Harper and Scott knew that he was right. They pulled up at the hospital where Cora was a couple of minutes later, climbing out of the car quickly. Stiles went around the back and grabbed a wooden bat, causing Scott to look at him strangely.

"What? You got claws. I got a bat," he said rather proudly.

When they made it inside the hospital, the lights were flickering and everybody seemed to be on edge. Everybody was moving towards exits and phones were ringing every few seconds. The group marched on, ignoring everyone until they heard a woman call for Scott.

Harper turned around and saw Melissa, "guys," she called, placing a hand on Scott's shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned, "the hospital's closing," she glanced at Harper, her brown eyes widening, "and what the hell happened to your head? Oh my god."

Harper shook her head, "I'm fine."

"There's blood everywhere!" She gently grasped Harper's wrist and pulled her forwards to inspect the cut under the bandage, "are you dizzy? How have you not fainted?"

"I'm connected to Scott," Harper explained as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Melissa looked alarmed as Scott cut in, "we're looking for Cora."

"What, all of you?" Her hand was still on Harper's wrist, but she looked at the others, "why does Stiles have my bat?"

Stiles glanced down at the stolen bat held tightly in his hands, but he didn't reply.

"Mum, just trust me on this. You need to get out of here," Scott ignored her question as he looked at Harper hesitantly, "and take Harps with you."

Harper frowned, "Scott-"

"You're bleeding, Harper," he reminded her sternly but softly, "and you can't stay by my side all night. My mum can help you. Please."

Harper's eyes softened and she nodded. She wouldn't be much help anyway. She always just got  in the way of things and was another factor Scott had to take in account to his already-stressful-life.

"The building is supposed to be clear in thirty minutes. We've got two ambulances that are coming back. One's ten minutes out, the other's twenty. Cora needs to be on one of those. They'll be picking up in the basement garage," Melissa explained quickly.

"Got it," he nodded, "I'm sorry, Harper."

Harper shook her head, "don't worry. Stay safe guys," she looked at the group before her eyes landed on Jennifer, "oh," she remembered who was also there, "not you. Sorry."

Derek, Jennifer and Scott began to rush off. Stiles took one last look at Harper, their eyes meeting. Neither said anything, but they knew what each other meant just by the look. Stiles then ran after the others, and Harper's head began to ache.

"God," she hissed, feeling sick instantly.

Melissa held onto her, "don't worry, baby. We're going to get you help."

Harper managed a weak smile, "thanks."

"Can you connect to me until I find someone to help you?" Melissa asked, holding Harper up as she began to walk briskly down the hallway towards one of the exits.

Harper nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. She managed to connect to Scott's mum in a few seconds, immediate relief flooding over her. Melissa stroked her shoulder and let her go so that they were walking beside each other.

"Where are we going? Back home?" Harper questioned.

Melissa couldn't help but smile a little that Harper now referred to the McCall residence as 'home'.

"No. There's some doctors that are leaving right now. I trust them to help you while I wait for Scott," Melissa explained, pushing the glass doors open.

Rain poured down on them immediately, causing Harper to turn her head and wince. Melissa held a hand in front of her face, barely shielding them from the harsh downpour.

"Scott told you go to home," Harper called over the roaring thunder, "it's not safe, Melissa."

Melissa scoffed, "he should know by now that I never leave my children behind."

Harper knew she was also referencing to her, and her heart swelled. She felt tears prick her eyes but she blinked them away with a bittersweet smile.

"Please stay safe," Harper grabbed her hand as Melissa moved to the car park, going over to where a man was putting some folders frantically into the boot of his black car.

"Jeremy, this is Harper. She's hit her head and she needs assistance immediately. My son's still in the building and I need to get him out. If you could-"

The man turned around and Harper had to hold back a gasp. It was the same Jeremy from Eichen House, the one that was helping her and her brother communicate. His eyes met hers and they widened a little, but he played it off cooly.

"Of course, of course," Jeremy replied, "you know where I live."

Melissa nodded, "take care of her and text me updates."

Jeremy nodded.

Melissa squeezed Harper's smaller hand and was then jogging back to the hospital, leaving Harper with the mysterious man she had met only a few times before.

...

Harper was forced to disconnect to Melissa as soon as she has ran off, and now she sat on Jeremy's couch in agonising pain. Her head was thumping and she felt sick to her stomach.

"You haven't wrote to Harry in a while," the dark haired man noted as he dabbed her cut, "he's starting to get worried. He thinks he scared you off."

The Empath hissed out in pain before replying, "the past week has been really hard for me. I keep trying to write a letter for him, but everything that comes out is just so depressing and I don't want to add that to his list of reasons to be sad."

Jeremy chuckled, "he adores you, you know. Asks about you all the time."

"He doesn't even know me," Harper sighed, "I don't know him. For all I know, it could be you writing to me, and Harry doesn't even exist and my dad is still dead."

"You saw him."

Harper felt her heart skip a beat, "excuse me?" She swallowed as Jeremy put plasters on the cut.

"At the cemetery. You saw him."

Harper moved away from him as quickly as she could. She stared at him in horror, recalling the figure she has seen that night.

"I'm leaving," her voice shook, "I don't know how you know so much about me, or why you were at the graveyard that night, but you need to stay the hell away from me."

Jeremy's eyebrows furrowed, "I wasn't at the graveyard."

Harper became even more confused, causing her anger to grow. She balled her fists up and stood from the couch, ignoring how dizzy it made her feel.

"Leave me alone," she spat again, grabbing her coat from the end of the couch and slithering it on, "I'm going. Tell Melissa I feel better."

"You don't understand-"

He put his hand on her arm to stop her from leaving, but she whirled around and punched him as hard as she could in the face, sending him straight to the ground.

Jeremy looked up at her, clutching his bleeding nose, his eyes shining with disbelief. She held her aching hand but glared at him harder.

"I told you to leave me alone," Harper warned before turning on her heel and walking back out into the rain.

NOT PROOF READ
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hey, i managed to write a chapter and im really proud of myself (my wrist is still broken ugh)

hope you enjoyed! some starper is coming up soonnnnnnnnnnnn