[eight]
visionary

ALEX CROSSED HER arms as she glanced at Cora, who was glancing outside the window, beginning to explain Derek and Peter's story.

"They were there for two days." Cora started. "Waiting. Hiding. That's what we're taught to do when the hunters find us. Hide and heal."

"Okay, so, is two days standard, then, or do we think Derek's on some extended getaway." Stiles replied sarcastically.

"Why do you care?" Cora frowned at the boy.

"Why do I care?" Stiles repeated. "Let's see. Over the last few weeks, my two best friends, one of them is standing right here next to me by the way, have tried to kill themselves, one of said best friend's bosses nearly got ritually sacrificed, a girl that I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed, Boyd was killed by alphas, I- do you want me to keep going, because I can, alright? For like, an hour."

"You think Derek can do anything about that?" Cora replied, ignoring the last part. Alex frowned, however, the girl had a point.

"Well, since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it." Alex spoke, defending Stiles, her arms still crossed.

"I don't know...there's something different about him." Cora sighed. "He wasn't like this when we knew him."

"What was he like?" Alex frowned.

Peter began to walk down the metal stairs, all attention falling on him. "A lot like Scott, actually. A lot like most teenagers, unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, and tolerable, really, only to other teenagers."

"So what happened? What changed him?" Alex questioned.

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

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

"Do you remember Derek before he was an alpha? He had blue eyes?" Peter glanced at Cora, then turned to Stiles and Alex again. "Do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?"

Both Stiles and Alex spoke at the same time, giving two different responses.

"Yes."

"I just always thought it was, like, a genetic thing..."

"If you wanna know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the colour of his eyes." Peter sighed.

••••

"Okay, so if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he?" Stiles frowned as he sat down on a chair, Alex sitting on the couch next to Peter, a few centimetres away.

"How old were you? How old are you now?" Stiles narrowed his eyes at Peter.

"Not as young as we could've been, but not as old as you might think." Peter spoke vaguely.

"That wasn't frustratingly vague at all." Alex scoffed.

"How old are you?" Stiles turned to Cora.

"I'm seventeen." Cora responded simply.

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

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

"You should've dropped the subject as soon as you thought of it, Sti." Alex spoke.

"Yep." Stiles blew out a breath.

"What happened with the cello girl?" Alex changed the subject, facing Peter.

"What do you think happened? They were teenagers." Peter sighed. "One minute, it's 'I hate you don't talk to me', the next it's frantic groping in any dark corner they could manage to find themselves in for five minutes."

He continued. "Their favourite dark corner was an abandoned distillery outside of Beacon Hills."

"Alright, hold up." Stiles interrupted. "How do you know all this?"

"That's exactly what I was wondering." Alex added, turning to face Peter. "You said they were alone."

"Back then, I wasn't just Derek's uncle. I was his best friend, his closest confidante." Peter replied, glancing between Alex and Stiles. "That's how I know."

••••

Peter drew a spiral on the window. "Our mark for vendetta."

"Man, you guys really take that revenge thing to a whole new level, don't you?" Stiles sighed.

"It's not just revenge." Cora replied. "Losing a member of your pack isn't like losing family. It's like you lose a limb."

"They wouldn't even let him see the body." Peter added, him being Ennis, a member of Deucalion's alpha pack.

"I don't get it." Alex frowned. "What does this have to do with Derek?"

Peter turned to face Alex, Stiles, and Cora. "Everything. It's never just a single moment, it's a confluence of events. Personally, I looked at Ennis' circumstances, all I saw was profound loss. Derek saw something different. He saw opportunity."

Alex frowned from where she was.

"Opportunity to do what?" Stiles asked the question Alex wanted to know the answer to as well.

"To always be with her." Peter responded, talking about the girl Derek fell in love with. "The thing was, he had this constant fear. He was obsessing over it, thinking about it all night, all day, it was always on his mind."

Alex wasn't sure if Peter was still referring to Derek, or himself at this point.

He went on. "I kept telling him not to do it. Every day, the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became." Alex didn't know wether to believe him or not. There was no use listening to his heartbeat. He probably learnt how to control it years ago. She slightly narrowed her eyes, but continued to listen to him nonetheless.

"You know teenagers. I bet he even blames me." Peter added. "He's probably convinced himself the whole thing was my idea."

••••

"They keep us connected to humanity." Cora spoke to Alex and Stiles, referring to Druids. "But they're a secret even in the pack, sometimes only the alpha knows who the emissary is. Derek and I had no idea about Deaton."

"Or his sister, Morrell." Peter added.

Both Alex and Stiles frowned and shared a glance.

"She's an emissary too?" Stiles asked.

"For the alpha pack." Peter nodded.

"Our guidance counsellor?" Alex frowned.

"Why the hell do you people never tell us any of this stuff, huh?" Stiles spoke, glancing between Cora and Peter. "I shared some really intimate details with her."

"And did she give you good advice?" Cora raised her eyebrows.

"Actually, yeah." Stiles frowned to himself.

"That's what they do." Peter sighed. "That's what Deaton used to do for Talia." He referred to Derek's mother.

••••

"Ennis?" Cora frowned. "Why would you choose him?"

"Why not?" Peter replied smugly. "Ennis needed a new member for his pack. Paige was young and strong. Doing a favour for Derek meant Ennis would be good with Talia. Back then, everybody wanted to be good with her."

"He doesn't remember it was Ennis, does he?" Alex frowned.

"If he does, he keeps it to himself." Peter replied.

"So then what happened?" Stiles asked. "Did he turn her?"

"Almost." Peter spoke simply. "He came at Ennis. A fifteen year old boy against a giant. There was no reason for him to fight. She'd already been bitten."

"So did she turn?" Cora questioned.

"She should have." Peter responded. "Most of the time the bite takes. Most of the time."

"When you offered the bite to me, you said 'if it doesn't kill you'." Stiles frowned.

"If." Peter spoke. "He asked what was happening. But he knew the answer. It didn't matter that she was young and strong. Some people just aren't made for this. She fought. She struggled desperately, trying to survive."

"I remember taking her body from his arms. To the woods, to a place where I knew it would never be found. Another of a long line of Beacon Hills animal attacks." Peter continued.

"And what about Derek?" Cora questioned, tears pricking her eyes.

"Taking an innocent life takes something from you as well. A bit of your soul. Darkening it. Dimming the once brilliant golden yellow to a cold, steel blue." Peter spoke dimly.

Stiles and Alex didn't realise how true that statement would soon turn out to be.

"Like mine." Peter added, his eyes turning into a cobalt blue colour.

••••

"What's wrong?" Alex asked Stiles, glancing at him.

"What's this- what's this look on your face?" Cora added.

"What look?" Stiles glanced between Alex and Cora.

"The kind of look that makes me want to punch you." Cora replied impatiently.

"Oh my god, you are so Derek's sister." Stiles spoke sarcastically. "I forgot."

"Sti, what's with the look?" Alex frowned, changing the subject.

"I just don't believe him." Stiles replied.

"Me too." Alex nodded.

"In Ms Blake's class, we're reading Heart of Darkness." Stiles began to explain to Cora. "And it's in first person, right? Narrated by Marlow. The thing is, he's an unreliable narrator, you know the details of it have changed because of the details from his perspective."

"Well, we heard the story from Peter's perspective." Cora frowned.

"I don't think we got the whole story." Alex spoke.

"Me too." Stiles nodded, agreeing with the girl.

"So what, are you just gonna ask Derek about the girl he fell in love with and then killed?" Cora asked, glancing between Alex and Stiles.

"If I have to..." Stiles nodded. "Yeah."

••••

a/n:

heyyyy.

so I know this one was short and a little boring, I guess it's sort of a filler chapter. anyways, I also just uploaded the next one, as promised :) hope you enjoy !

thank you so much for reading, voting, and commenting as always 💓💓

—voidelmslie 💌✨