Beacon ⌲ Stiles Stilinski [1] EDITING

twenty seven

"So, who did you say you were studying with tonight?"

I kept my gaze straight ahead of me while listening to the click of the office's door shutting and the faint squeak the principal's big leather chair let out under his weight.

Allison was seated to my right side and we were trying to act as natural as possible, hiding the fact that I had just received multiple texts from Stiles informing us that Jackson was awake and extremely, violently unhappy.

"Just Lydia," my sister answered. "We're prepping for our World History midterm."

Gerard smiled and I stared at his crooked teeth. He had called us both into his office to have a talk, which I knew meant an interrogation.

"Ah, World History was one of my favourites, especially military history. Ever hear the phrase 'know thy enemy'?"

Thanking her intelligence and strong memory, I watched Allison nod in response. Where my grades were slipping slowly from my grasp, hers were still pristine. "It's from 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu."

"Very good," our grandfather praised, resting his elbows on his wooden desk. "Know what it means?"

"In order to win a battle, one must know everything they can about their enemy."

"Right again," Gerard grinned and I waited patiently for the conversation to turn in its expected direction. I knew he hadn't just called us in there to discuss Chinese military strategies. He had set himself up perfectly, which made him grin wider and lean back in his chair. "Your father and I happen to be having that very problem."

I fidgeted. Here we go.

He continued. "We've got an enemy about which we know next to nothing. It's killed one of our own among others."

I had heard, through whispers of our parents' conversations and their behaviour, about the death of one of their henchman. The henchman who was part of Dad's kidnapping training scheme in the Hale house. The one who praised us for our 'quick' escape. The kanima's victim within minutes of us driving away.

It seemed as though that's why I had screamed: I knew the shadowy monster was going to kill someone but I had selfishly assumed it was Allison.

I had to shut out the thoughts that shouted at me for doing the wrong thing or not enough. That I could've saved him.

I cleared my throat and lowered my eyes. "We've heard."

"Did you hear Jackson Whittemore didn't show to school today?"

Channeling my best counterfeit look of confusion, I looked to my sister. After a flicker of unsteadiness, she had mirrored my own expression. Our answer came out in a chorus. "No." even though we were already fully aware of this. We were also aware that Stiles wasn't coming to class either, since he was in charge of keeping watch of Jackson.

"He didn't?" my sister pondered, daring to dart her dark eyes towards me and then onto the tips of her boots.

"His parents called and so did the police," Gerard's tone was flat, and his eyes were scrutinizing. He probably already knew we were involved in it all, he was just waiting for us to slip up. "You girls wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

We fell silent for a handful of seconds.

"Well," Gerard grinned. "Let me tell you what I know. I know that a teenager's first instinct is to protect their friends. And I believe my granddaughters would always want to protect their friends, even if it meant lying. So, I want to ask one more question, and this time, with a small advantage."