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“Our son is missing,” David says as soon as he and his wife are face to face with the sheriff at his office.
“Jackson? Since when?” The sheriff asks, frowning.
“We’re not sure.” David shakes his head. “We haven’t seen him since yesterday morning when he went to school. He didn’t come home last night and he’s not answering his phone. We’ve been worried all night.”
“We should have come here sooner, but we thought… I don’t know…” Laura licks her lips, shaking her head. “We know the police asks for a certain amount of hours before they investigate a missing case… I guess we hoped that it was just a matter of time but he's never done this before.”
“Actually, my son is missing too. Stiles never came home last night either. I’ve been trying to locate him since then, and nobody has seen him.”
“What about that boy? His friend?” David says.
“Scott?” The sheriff asks, raising his eyebrows. “I can’t find him either. Which at least suggests that maybe they are together.”
“And you think that maybe Jackson is with them?” Laura asks.
“I don’t know… Maybe. It’s not the craziest theory right now.”
“How is it that your son always gets himself in trouble and our son has to pay the consequences?”
“Excuse me?” The sheriff raises his eyebrows, crossing his arms.
“We haven’t forgotten the restraining order we had to file against him… everything that my son endured because of Stiles. It was your son and his little friend who kidnapped him and traumatized him.”
“Are you really going to go there again?" The sheriff asks with obvious disbelief. "With both our children missing, god only knows where! You people never change. Are you here to find him or are you here to lose more time criticizing my son?”
“Of course we want to find him!” Laura says. “But you don’t seem to be doing anything to search for them!”
“You just got here! I’ve been making inquiries all night… I’ve looked everywhere! I’ve asked everybody I could think of, and there is no trace of him. If you think I’m not doing everything I can to find him, you’re totally wrong.” At least the last time he disappeared he came back, with bruises, but he came back home safely. He wants to think that this time it won’t be different — hopefully without the bruises.
“Fine, I guess you’re doing what you can… but we want to help. There must be something we can do,” Laura says.
She looks tired and worried, and the sheriff can see that she’s deeply worried and in obvious distress.
“Yes, we’re not staying at home doing nothing,” David insists.
The sheriff is about to answer when he sees Derek, followed by Isaac and Scott enter the police station and he’s automatically on alert. This guy is trouble as far as he’s concerned. He can’t prove it and the truth is that he doesn’t really know much of him but he thought he could be a killer once and, even if he was wrong about that, he’s always thought that the guy is hiding something. It’s a gut feeling and as such, he’s never been able to throw it aside… that’s why seeing him with his son’s classmates a day like today can be nothing but bad news.
“I need to talk to you,” Derek says when he reaches the office. “It’s about Stiles.” Derek looks between David and Laura. “In private.”
“They are Jackson’s parents,” Scott points out, looking at Derek.
The sheriff notices the silent conversation between them and he is about to ask something when Derek speaks again.
“You’re David,” Derek says. It’s more a statement than a question.
David nods.
“I’m Laura, Jackson’s mother,” Laura says, feeling that for some reason this guy should know who she is.
“Right,” Derek says, looking a little uncomfortable.
“Scott, have you seen Stiles? Haven’t you seen my calls and messages?” The sheriff frowns.
“Sheriff—”
“That’s why I’m here,” Derek interrupts Scott. “I’m responsible…” Derek licks his lips, looking between the sheriff and Jackson’s parents. “I’m here to help you find him… and Jackson — Actually, that’s not true. I’m here because I need your help. I wouldn’t be here if I thought I could do it on my own,” Derek admits reluctantly. “But their lives are at risk—”
“What do you mean? What are you talking about?” David asks, raising both eyebrows.
“Who are you? Where is my son?” Laura frowns, tilting her head and tightening her lips.
“Let him speak… what do you know?” the sheriff asks, looking sideways at Derek.
“My name is Derek Hale,” Derek says, looking at David and Laura. “And this isn’t a conversation I ever planned on having with you… with any of you.”
“Please, just tell us where they are,” the sheriff says, starting to lose his patience.
“I’m going to… but it’s not that simple. First, I need to know I can trust you. And for that to happen you need to promise that you won’t repeat a word about what I’m about to say… or about what you will most probably see if we find them. Everything needs to stay between us.”
“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t you be able to trust us?” Laura narrows her eyes, waving her arm.
“Because you’re human… and the people who have your sons are anything-but-human,” Derek says, stressing every word.
“What do you mean?” The sheriff shrugs. “Stop speaking in riddles. Just tell us who they are!”
“It’s as important who they are as what they are.” There is a pause where Derek seems to be having second thoughts about revealing what he knows and the sheriff is about to ask for information again when Derek finally speaks again.
“They are werewolves—”
“What?—” The sheriff interrupts him, waving his arm.
“That’s why I need your help…” Derek continues, ignoring the sheriff’s surprise, “because they’ve been kidnapped by werewolves and there’s a chance that if we don’t find them fast, we won’t see them alive again.”
“Okay, let’s go back to the werewolves’ part of your story? Do you really expect us to believe this crap?” The sheriff asks, creasing his brow.
“He's telling the truth,” Scott says.
“Son—”
“I’m a werewolf,” Scott says.
“So am I,” Isaac says, changing his blue human eyes to his yellow werewolf ones.
Jackson’s parents take a step back with wide eyes. There is a “shit” coming from David and a gasp from Laura who automatically covers her mouth with her hand.
The sheriff simply runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “You have to be kidding me?”
“That’s just one of the things I can do to prove it to you.”
“Isaac! Stop!” Derek says. “That’s not—”
“But they don’t believe you!” Isaac retorts.
“I do.” The sheriff snorts, resting both hands on his hips.
Everything suddenly clicks in his head… so many unexplained things… so many unsolved crimes and unanswered questions seem to finally have a possible explanation… it’s like his eyes are wide open for the first time.
“Not only because of that… that thing you did...” The sheriff points at Isaac. “But because it explains so many things that have been going on in this town…” The sheriff licks his lips as he remembers them.
“Like you...” The sheriff points at Derek, “since obviously, you are one of them… which is why you said that before—”
“I came here to explain everything,” Derek insists.
“Then, start talking! Don’t make me lose more time!” The sheriff says, getting more and more agitated by the second. “Because if my son dies because of you, so help me god, I’ll make sure that you stay in prison for the rest of your life! Start by saying who these people are... these werewolves!”
“The Esiban.” Derek says, looking at Jackson’s parents for a moment before focusing on the sheriff again. “They are a pack… like a clan of shapeshifters. From Europe.”
“European shapeshifters?” The sheriff asks, frowning.
“Their ancestors were American, from Beacon Hills to be more exact. But they were banished more than a hundred years ago. They broke the rules—”
“What rules?” David asks, furrowing his brow.
“Basically, turning humans against their will and drawing attention to themselves… way too much attention. The truth is that turning and sometimes, killing -whenever the bite didn’t take- became a sort of sport for them. So, when the council found out, they forgave their lives but they were banished forever from the United States and their territory was given to the Hale pack… that is, my predecessors.” Derek licks his lips, shaking his head, as he remembers what his mother told him once.
“I’m guessing they weren’t happy…” The sheriff says.
“They’ve held a grudge against my family ever since that day. Even if my pack had nothing to do with that decision. Some people thought that there was a chance that someday they would come back and… I don’t know… take revenge somehow against us. Other people thought that they would be too afraid of the consequences to attempt anything.”
“Obviously these guys belong to the first group,” the sheriff says.
“Yeah, we were in the woods when we were ambushed. We were about to get back to the cars when a bunch of them appeared and…” Derek shakes his head. “Everything happened so fast…”
“They were shooting wolfsbane… which, I guess I should explain that is something that hurts werewolves,” Scott clarifies. “So we shifted and ran… I tried to help Stiles but he tripped and fell down… and he told me to go. And I should have stayed to help him…” Scott says with a trembling voice, full of emotion and regret as he remembers that moment. The truth is that if he never sees his friend alive again, he’ll never be able to forgive himself.
“You did what you had to do,” Derek says. “He knew you’re the one they wanted, not him — If you had stayed, they’d have you too right now.”
“And what does Jackson have to do with all of this?” Laura asks, raising her eyebrows.
Everybody turns to looks at her… like they had forgotten she was even there.
“I’m guessing he was with you…” She insists, looking at Derek.
“Yes, he was,” Derek nods. “He was with us because he’s one of us. He’s also a werewolf and part of my pack. He asked me to turn him… many times, actually.” Derek chuckles. “To be honest with you, at first, I didn’t think it was a good idea, so I turned him down, but he didn’t give up. He’s nothing if not insistent and dedicated to getting what he wants, and finally, I gave him what he wanted… only it didn’t turn out as he… well, as we expected… but I’ll let him explain that to you if he wants. What happened or what he is… none of that really matters right now, does it? Actually, being a wolf he has a higher pain tolerance and a higher probability of surviving. Plus, he’s resilient and stubborn… if he’s with Stiles like I suspect, at least they can lean on each other. They are not alone. And before you ask me, I don’t know what exactly happened with Jackson. All I know is they got to him too.” Derek is not going to mention the possibility that he could have been shot because it would only make their parents more anxious and they are worried enough as it is. They also look too shocked right now, especially Laura.
“Any idea how many men they had?”
“It was very fast… but I think they were four or five... six tops.”
“That’s not a big number,” the sheriff says.
“No, it isn’t… but it’s enough for their plans. I’m guessing that they didn’t have the support of all the members in the pack. They know the consequences of acting against the council even it is a hundred years later.”
“What consequences?” David asks, tilting his head.
“Death,” Derek says simply.
“Okay, we need to find them! How do we do that?” Scott asks.
“That’s what we’re going to find out…” The sheriff says, pinching his nose as he turns around and looks at the map of Beacon Hills on the wall.
And when they find them, his son is gonna be grounded indefinitely.