Everything felt like fire.

They say that when you're presented with a life or death situation, time seems to accelerate. It's almost a if someone pressed the fast-forward button, and everything turns to confusion. Clarity deteriorates until all that remains is a mess of colours, and the fine line between fantasy & reality is distorted beyond repair.

Your decisions become rushed, procrastination sets in & your ability to think logically goes up in flames, alongside your sense of calm & serenity. You start to lose focus, becoming almost hypnotized by the beautiful disaster of what was once your life. A small fragment of sanity may slip through from time to time, causing you to ultimately question the legitimacy of the scene before you, but it's brushed away with ease. Your eyes wouldn't fool you, would they? All you've ever relied on in life is the vision you eyes give you. If that were suddenly proven to be nothing more than a creation of your own conscious mind as a way to cope with something far worse.

Like death, which little to your knowledge, could very well be creeping up behind you at this very moment. What would you do, then? If death really was right behind you, a sharp blade at hand, ready to end it all in one swift motion.

Then, paranoia sets in.

What if it is all just an illusion? What if death really is right behind you, and he'd merely waiting for you to turn around. A sinister smirk on his lips as he awaits the fear-stuck expression on your face, knowing the end is inescapable & painfully inevitable. Maybe you should look? Just to be safe, of course. He probably won't be there, anyways. You're overthinking the situation, turning a small issue into a huge overreaction.

But you aren't.

Don't bother running, because by the time you even flinch, you'll be half past dead. Already enveloped into a suffocating darkness, one that grips it's prisoners with such strength that chances of escape are unthinkable.

That's the thing about darkness. Once it gets you, it has you forever. No, not the "forever" referred to in cheesy vampire novels. Even once the world is destroyed & humanity is condemned to live in their own creation of damnation, you'll still be floating around in the sickening void if darkness, because it never lets go.

That's how Rachel felt.

As if the world was gone, and she became a prisoner of the darkness. Detached from the world & left to float endlessly through a void of nothing. Trapped with no sense of time, nor distance. She didn't know if it's been days, months or even weeks by the time she regained a sense of humanity. The awareness spread throughout, quickly alerting her that she was no longer lying still in a pile of glass.

Rachel couldn't open her eyes, no matter how hard she fought it felt as though they'd been stitched shut. She could still feel pieces of glass pierced into the skin of her palms, a faint burn that couldn't compare to the immense migraine in her forehead. A tight grip held her wrist, her lifeless body being dragged along a cold floor as her consciousness remained trapped in the confines of her mind.

The only thought she could form was that the unconscious corpse of her brother was more than likely being dragged alongside her. Distorted memories forbade her of forgetting how she'd ended up in her current situation. A psychopath of blood relation to her, the infamous alpha werewolf, Peter Hale. Even his name sounded like an atomic bomb threat in her mind.

Everything about him disgusted her. Particularly the fading childhood memories that stung tears in her eyes at even the smallest of thoughts. She understood nothing of his reasoning for the massacre he performed upon a town they once protected, nor did she want to. Fighting fire with fire only sets everyone ablaze, and if the scars he once bared weren't enough for him to know that; then he deserved everything to come.

Rachel couldn't stop the thoughts from continuing on, delving into the darkest corners or her mind. In a state of pure sanity, she'd slap herself silly for even thinking such horrific thoughts, but she was merciless to the power of subconscious mind.

Just days ago, she trusted Peter just as much as Derek, and in an instant her world came crashing down. In the blink of an eye, everything had crumbled, and Rachel was left lying in the pitiful remnants of what was once the salvaged ashes of her life. It was all too much at once, and the overload of emotions created somewhat of a darkest hour for Rachel Hale.

Derek's earlier suspicions had prevented the immense shock his younger sister felt, but the bitter truth was still something he didn't want to accept. But he had to. Choices were seldom an option in the life lived by a Hale, and to have none meant the inevitable process of acceptance.

Rachel's supposed darkness turned to red as the grip on her wrist loosened, letting it hit the floor limply. Footsteps circled her, soon stopping beside her head. She could only assume they'd knelt down beside her, the suspicions being confirmed as knife-like claws brushed across the back of her neck.

The brunette wanted nothing more than to break them, but her muscles ignore every plea to move. She was completely helpless, left to endure whatever torrential memories the werewolf decided to show her. Rachel knew they'd be of the fire, and that no amount of time could ever prepare her for the emotional trauma it would inflict.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, sweetheart." A taunting voice broken the suffocating silence yet again. Chills ran down Rachel's spine, now knowing for certain it was still the alpha tormenting her. Escape was hopeless, and all she could hope for was that Derek managed to get out.

But betrayal ran deep as a second voice rang out, inflicting yet another wound upon her battered & bloody heart. "You'll understand once you see it from his point of view, Rachel."

And that was when the sharp claws pierced into her neck.

All in an instant, images flashed through her mind. Memory after memory, screams filling her ears. One in particular consumed her senses as the scene played out before her, Rachel finally managing to let out a strangled sob. She could see it straight through the eyes of a monster, her sister's final moments before he mercilessly slashed her life away. By the time Laura Hale's corpse fell limp, Rachel no longer felt anything. In the midst of screams & blood, her emotions had somehow become lost in the sickening mix.

The next scene to come was through the eyes of a person she once loved. A death grip held on for dear life to the metal bars trapping the Hale family in the basement of their home as smoke filled lungs & flames engulfed the room. Flames circled innocent people, consuming life as screams filled the night. Rachel could feel the heat, the flames moving closer as her hand grasped as the metal bars so desperately trying to break them.

But fire was catching at an unstoppable rate, and the weakening strength of a beta werewolf fell powerless to the inferno. Smoke blurred vision as quickly as it filled lungs, but no cloud could ever cover the deranged audience of psychopaths lined outside of the window. Each person slaughtered by her uncle stood outside of the small window, alongside one other she'd suspected all along.

Rachel allowed herself to blame the killing of her family on all of the Argents, (excluding Allison) but suspicion had always been nestled in the depths of her mind. Flames biting at her face distorted the demented one of her killer, but Rachel would never forget the image that tattooed itself in her mind.

Claws were removed from her neck, but still Rachel Hale laid still on the floor. Even as Derek lifted her up, carrying the brunette out to his Camaro, she silent with no signs of life. Consciousness had fully restored itself, and the girl was fully capable of moving, but a precise amount of self-control forbade it, knowing she she dared to move even an inch, she'd do something she'd forever regret.

And whether that something be setting fire to Kate Argent, or plunging a sword through the heart of Peter Hale, the world may never know.

⠀⠀⠀⠀↻

Betrayal is a term often used too lightly.

Whether it be by a thirteen year old crying over the end of her twenty-two day romance, claiming she'd been cheated on by her sixteen year old boyfriend, or an over-dramatic queen bee, feeling betrayed because her best friend ditched her to attend a club or sport of which the queen bee prohibited.

Each felt their own definition of betrayal, an emotion that would later affect how those chose to approach similar situations later in life. They'd often claim the one horrific childhood event had forever tainted their view upon humanity, possibly going to the extreme of never trusting anyone to such an extent ever again.

The examples of what some perceive as betrayal could go on & on for countless hours, but anyone could easily see that the proclaimed betrayal within a short-lived, lie-filled teenage romance couldn't compare to what Rachel Hale felt. With a metaphorical switchblade sticking from her bloodied & beaten spine, a constant pain tugged at her heartstrings. It held her attention like a mousetrap, a grip so tight it could kill.

In a perfect world, she'd always thought that she, Derek & Laura were in this together. Watching out for each other, always remaining wary to ensure their survival. But not only had Derek betrayed Rachel, he'd also betrayed Laura. For him to disregard her death as if it's been nothing, buying along with Peter's story of it being an accident.

Rachel knew the truth.

It seemed like she was the only one who knew anything anymore. No amount of rage can drive you to mercilessly slaughter not only a member of your family, but a member of your pack. The ties that bind a pack together are stronger than any blood relations, and to kill a pack mate is almost to kill yourself.

Comatose or not, Peter was never forgotten. He was a Hale, and for that, Rachel never allowed him to be disregarded as useless. Now it seemed as though the time spent ensuring he remained in thought was nothing but time wasted on a worthless cause. The Peter Hale once known & loved was now nothing but a vile creature with the eyes of an alpha. But sometimes, eyes can deceive. A man so soulless, so heartless that he could take the life of his own neice for power would never become an alpha at heart.

He became a monster.

Not only that, but he was leading Derek down the same path. And Rachel would rather die than live long enough to see her brother become anything like Peter. The mere thought of such a monstrosity sickened her.

That's why she snuck out of Derek's Camaro whilst he & Peter went into the high school to convince Scott of their cause (which failed miserably, because he's Scott "save everybody" McCall.) Rachel had ended up running to the woods, then casually walking along the trails until she reached her home.

She'd changed into a clean pair of ripped skinny jeans & a white t-shirt, her half-moon necklace staying hidden beneath it. She slipped her leather jacket back on, quickly checking it over in the mirror. The damage done to it in her fight against Peter was minimal, and any bloodstains were easily camouflaged within the shiny blackness.

Rachel left her house just as quickly as she'd entered it, in fear of encountering one of the Argents. She was almost never home without Derek, and despite still being a werewolf, Rachel didn't want to come face to face with Kate Argent anytime soon.

She knew that all it would take is to be within reach of her, then she wouldn't be able to stop herself. Rachel would most definitely Kate, and she wouldn't feel an ounce of remorse; not after seeing what Peter saw.

Rachel needed a distraction, from the stress of both her brother & uncle, and their devious plan of revenge. So that's why she called Lydia. What was more distracting than carrying fifty pounds of shopping bags, all while the strawberry blonde carries only a Prada handbag, in fear that anything else might damage her manicure.

It seems as though Allison had the same idea though, because Rachel soon found herself climbing in the backseat of Lydia's car, whilst the front was occupied by the aforementioned Argent girl. They were on their way to the mall, when Allison had informed the strawberry blonde driver that she needed to run a quick errand.

A quick errand which had somehow found them back in the woods of the preserve, almost an hour after Allison had referred to it as "quick." Rachel was just thankful she'd remained as a werewolf, rather than subtly reflecting her strawberry blonde friend, otherwise she would've been freezing to death.

"Allison-" Lydia interrupted the silence. "When you said you needed to stop for an errand before we went shopping, a five mile hike in the woods was not what I was expecting."

Rather than responding to Lydia's comment, Allison changed the subject completely. "Before I forget, I wanted to ask if you're okay with something. Jackson asked me to the winter formal."

"Did he?" Lydia asked, the pitch of her voice sounding slightly higher. Even if Rachel couldn't smell jealousy, she'd still know that her strawberry blonde was far from pleased.

"Yeah, Just as friends." The Argent girl nodded, half smiling. "But I just wanted to make sure you're okay with it first."

"Sure." Lydia lied. "As long as it's just friends."

"Well, yeah, I mean- it's not like I would take him to the coach's office during lacrosse practice to make out with him or anything." Allison shrugged, whilst Lydia stopped in her tracks.

"And this, is why I don't have a boyfriend." Rachel commented, biting at her lip to keep from laughing. Lydia looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming bus. Both shocked & terrified by the blunt confrontation.

Rachel, however, was proud that she'd managed to avoid "boy drama" altogether. If Lydia had a brother anything like Derek, Jackson would already be six feet underground. Rachel didn't want to bury anyone else, anytime soon. She knew full well that her brother wouldn't hesitate to scary the living shit out of anyone who even attempted to break her heart.

Therefore, she'd opted to stay away from that side of high school, and instead focus on keeping herself alive long enough to graduate.

⠀⠀⠀⠀↻

"What does that do?" Lydia questioned Allison, the two having finally moved on from their earlier discussion. The Argent girl was currently in the midst of screwing on an arrowhead, one of which looked horrifyingly familiar to Rachel.

A flash bolt arrow.

An arrow most commonly used by Chris Argent, to temporarily blind her brother (when he was being a dumbass, out on the full moon & such.) It only affected the eyes of a werewolf, which unfortunately for Rachel, happened to be the very creature she reflected.

"We're about to find out." Allison announced, drawing back the bowstring & firing the arrow.

Rachel instinctively dropped down to the ground, shielding her eyes from the blinding light as white sparks flew from the arrowhead. Only once she was sure it'd gone out, did she uncover her eyes & stand back up. She smiled weakly, disregarding the looks of concern from her friends. "Sorry. Bright lights hurt my eyes."

Allison raised a brow, walking over & collecting the arrow. "How did you know it was going to light up?"

Rachel simply shrugged, the girl's odd action being quickly disregarded as Lydia spoke up. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know."

"Well, that was fun." Lydia mused, sarcasm laced in her tone. "Any more lethal weapons you wanna try out?"

Allison didn't respond, instead looking off into the distance. Rachel narrowed her eyes in confusion, opting to focus her werewolf hearing rather than stand there & wonder cluelessly. Her attention was soon directed to the sound of footsteps crunching leaves nearby, likely being caused by a jogger on their daily run.

"Hold this." Allison muttered, passing her bow to Lydia.

"What? Why?" The strawberry blonde questioned, holding the bow far away from her, as if it were some form of deadly assault rifle. It was clear she'd never held a weapon before, nor did she want to ever again.

"Because I thought I heard something."

"So what if you heard something?" Lydia repeated, careless. There were plenty of people in the woods, especially the preserve. With the Hale house nearby, it wouldn't be surprising if the "something" was a bunch of pre-teens daring each other to step foot within the charred structure.

"So, I want to find out what that something is." Allison stated, beginning to walk off in the direction of the noise. "Don't worry. It's probably nothing."

"Well, what if that nothing is something and that something is something dangerous?" The strawberry blonde questioned back, a frown forming on her face as Allison continued walking over the hill.

"Shoot it."

⠀⠀⠀⠀↻

By the time Allison had returned, Rachel's desire to shop, (carry Lydia's bags around, whilst the girl added even more unneeded designer clothing to her collection) had been obliterated. Her feet hurt from walking all the way into the woods for Allison to discover the blinding beauty of a flash bolt arrow, and she'd had enough of the duo for one day.

A fake text excuse to leave had granted her an easy escape, allowing Rachel to wander back to her home & make a quick change from her ankle-breaking heels. As usual, the reflector had proceeded to put some distance between herself & the wreckage, before finally collapsing against a tree, her phone gripped tightly in her right hand.

She hadn't checked it since calling Lydia, and though she didn't expect any notifications to occupy the lock screen, the brunette was greeted with a sickening surprise.

From; Wolverine
We need to talk.

From;Wolverine
Now.

From; Wolverine
Meet me at the house.

Rachel let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in. She leaned her head back against the tree, debating on whether or not to reply to Derek's text, when a fourth message caught her eye.

From; Unknown Number
I don't believe I've been given a proper chance to explain myself. I'll admit, my other approach may not have been the best, but I'd like a second chance. After all, we're family.

Immediately, Rachel's face scrunched up in disgust. Without question, she knew for certain that the message had been sent by Satan himself (otherwise known by name of Peter Hale.) The alarming part, was how he'd gotten her number.

Whether it'd been given to him by Derek, or he'd scrolled through her phone while she was unconscious, (that honestly wouldn't surprise her, at this point) Rachel didn't know. Nor did she care. Not a single emotion was felt as she unlocked her phone, tapping the message icon. With a few additional taps, a satisfactory smile soon formed on her lips as she blocked the number.

Then, she clicked on the message sent by Derek. A part of her considered blocking him too, but the stronger part chose against it. After his & Peter's proposition to Scott, it was likely that she wasn't on the best of terms with Batman & Robin and after practically ditching Barbie & Midge, she was completely & utterly friendless for the time being. Choosing to ignore Derek, would basically be shunning the last (non-psychotic) person willing to talk to her.

To; Wolverine
I'll hear you out, providing you drop Peter off at the dog pound on the way there.

From; Wolverine
If you'd just listen to him, you'd understand.

To; Wolverine
Yeah, sure. How much crack have you snorted?

From; Wolverine
I'm serious.

To; Wolverine
So am I.

From; Wolverine
Just hear him out.

To; Wolverine
What happened to you? A week ago, you were hellbent on finding & killing the alpha werewolf. Now, look at you. You're out getting lattes with him, and trying to turn a teenager, one that you once vowed to help, might I add, into a killer. I don't even know who you are anymore.

From; Wolverine
I'm not arguing with you over text messages, Rachel.

To; Wolverine
And I'm not telling you where I am. Any last words? Because I'm about ten seconds away from blocking your number.

From; Wolverine
You know I can find you.

To; Wolverine
And you know I can mask my scent.

From; Wolverine
Stop being acting like a child & tell me where you are. This isn't a game, Rachel. You don't know the whole story, and until you do, you won't understand. Peter didn't know what he was doing when he killed Laura, it was an accident. I've made my peace with it, and so should you.

To; Wolverine
I'm sorry it had to come to this.

After tapping the send button, Rachel quickly blocked his number to prevent a reply. She couldn't stand to argue with him anymore over a topic she knew she couldn't change. It hurt her heart to come to terms with the inevitable, such a reality was too bitter for her to ever truly accept. Rachel couldn't save everyone, and no matter how hard she tried, there would always be casualties along the way. The only way to ensure that Derek wouldn't be one of them, was for Rachel to keep her mouth shut & let him discover Peter's true nature on his own.

In the current day & age, she knew that all it took to start a war was the simplicity of speaking. Sometimes, even the unspoken word could in fact harm without ever making a sound. Words were still an enigma to Rachel, and for that reason she chose to remain quiet rather than to risk saying the wrong ones. She'd never be able to live with herself if it was her who triggered a chain of events leading to her brother's death, or anyone's death for that matter.

But if in the end, it was Rachel lying dead on the ground in place of another, she'd have not a single regret. Because unlike Peter, Rachel would rather die a hero than live long enough to see herself become the villain.

⠀⠀⠀⠀↻

I procrastinated about how to end this chapter for over an hour.

I rewrote the second half twice, then rewrote the ending four times. Don't even get me started on the start of the chapter, I'm fully aware it's basically a Creepypasta. I was listening to Void Stiles playlists. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Co-Captain is a pain in the ass to write, because part of me (the part that may or may not have a thing for psychos *cough* I blame Kai Parker) really wanted Rachel to join the dark side. I mean, come on, Derek smiling at the end of Code Breaker was both terrifying & hot. Maybe she'll have a change of heart between now & then.

Comment your opinions on the chapter? c: