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She should have left after the birds. She really should have left after the birds. Like seriously.
“Jennifer, the city isn't safe!” her mother said. “Go teach in a small town. Nothing bad happens in a small town.”
Right...
However she is not one for running away. She waved it off as a weird one-time phenomenon. After she calmed down. Life is not a Hitchcock movie. But apparently she is the person that is attacked at the beginning of horror movies.
Beacon Hills is obviously located on top of a Hellmouth. It would have been nice if people had warned her about it, so she wouldn't have ended up alone in the boiler room/supply closet (Who is the genius behind that organizational decision?) in the middle of the night.
And not to forget the murders. The murders that started at the same time. At first it were only teenagers but then two of her colleagues were also brutally murdered. She locked herself in her little apartment with chocolate and the terrible feeling that everything is related in some way. Since she moved to this town strange things keep happening.
Oh god, she is totally a magnet for supernatural and creepy things. With her luck she upset a witch or something. And now she's cursed. That is a reasonable explanation, isn't it? Witches and curses are not that farfetched, if uh... things like the ones in the boiler room exist.
She should have probably asked Derek what kind of creatures it were. Not when she was trembling and scared and he was bloody after just finishing fighting them, but probably when he showed up in her classroom. Who's she kidding? She was too busy not freaking out, but he could have given her some form of explanation, right? In real life people don't go around saving other people from monsters and expect them to keep quiet about it without explaining themselves. Or do they? Is there a protocol that real-life superheroes follow?
1. Middle of the night. Check
2. Secluded place. Check
3. Find someone in danger. Check
4. Save them from death. Check
5. Disappear without revealing themselves. Check
In a sudden impulse to not be only person in the dark about what is happening around her, she finds herself dressed and about to grab her car keys to leave the house. It is then that she realizes that she can't ask Derek anything if she doesn't know where he lives or for that matter his last name.
Family tragedy: 8 people dead
Hale Fire survivor killed by mountain lion
Murder suspect Derek Hale on the run
Derek Hale cleared from all accusations
A quick internet search later is she is not so sure about seeking him out anymore. Why can't she meet a normal guy? Just once. Okay, a guy who can fight off two supernatural creatures isn't normal to begin with, but a former murder suspect? Who lost the majority of his family in a fire. A fire caused by the aunt of one of her students. Maybe the weird things that are happening are not related to her. She obviously wasn't around when that kid was murdering people a few months ago.
With the high amount of bodies in Beacon Hills she at least wants to die knowing what's going on. And prepared. There is at least one supernatural thing out there, so she fills her purse with a saltshaker, garlic that ugly silver necklace from aunt Sarah and whatever useful items she remembers from lonely nights in front of the TV.
As much as she wants to stay away from her landlord and his successful and wonderful grand-son she should date, she pays him a visit. Since he knows everything about everyone in Beacon Hills it doesn't take long to find out were Derek lives.
An awkward try at smalltalk and the little speech she prepared in the car about having a right to know what's going on, later and he finally explains what was going to attack her that night at the school. Well, he tosses her a word.
Werewolves. “Okay.” She hopes she's imagining that her voice is way higher than normal. “Of course. That's great. I'm not surprised. It was on my list of possibilities. I brought silver.”
He raises his eyebrows at that and leads her to his couch. His hand is as warm as the night he saved her. Why is there a bed in the middle of the room?
“You can't tell anyone.”
Ha. She really hope he's joking. Who would believe her? Werewolves are real. God, her college roommate would love it here.
"And the murders? Also werewolves.”
“I don't know.” After a short pause. “I don't think so.”
“So you think they are not related? Because I have that terrible feeling that I'm attracting strange things. It would be easier if it were just one thing. Two other teachers were killed. And if it's not werewolves I can't even use the silver. I don't have bullets, but throwing it at them might work. Right?”
There is a little twitch of his lips that is definitely amusement. It's the same expression that he wore in her classroom. “Silver doesn't work on werewolves. Not even bullets.”
Of course it doesn't. “How do you know? Are you an expert on supernatural creatures that I thought were fictional? Do vampires have a reflection in the mirror?”
She doesn't know what stopped her from pulling her hand away from his after the following words. “I'm a werewolf.” She's sure he wouldn't appreciate a rejection after confiding in her with this secret. This big and furry secret.
“Cool.” That explains how he won a fight against two werewolves. And him being a supernatural creature is not as weird as him being a random guy to walk by the school in the middle of the night.
“You are afraid.”
“I'm always afraid. But I don't think that you helped me that night just to kill me now. You don't look like someone who comes up with elaborate plans.”
It's been a long time since a man found her amusing. Well, he's not a normal man, is he? Half an hour ago she thought that him being a murder suspect made him not normal. It's probably not acceptable to ask if he belongs to the same species as her. Not that it matters. Right now at least. The underlying feeling of arousal didn't suddenly disappeared, because of his declaration. Sue her, but he's gorgeous and mysterious.
While she's coming to terms with her possible new affinity for bestiality, he's explaining that she doesn't have to worry about the other two wolves. “They weren't thinking straight.” There is something he's not telling her though. Well, she's still basically a stranger to him. He's not going to tell her all of his secrets.
“I think I should leave.” Since there is a lot to process. Werewolves are real. She's still holding hands with one. Surprisingly he not only brings her to the door but even accompanies her to her car.
She's about to get in when she remembers that werewolves don't explain the other strange things that are happening. “What should I do about the murders?”
“You'll be fine,” he says looking around the dark street. “If you don't go out alone at night to visit strange men.”
She can't help but laugh, “Can I have your number? You know, if something decides that I would be a great snack.”
“Okay.”
Driving home she thinks that she should have asked Derek if there are any books she could read. For Werewolf research. In all that young adult novels there must be some kind of truth. Right?