Hope Andrea Argent

Heart Monitor (Part 1)

"He doesn't want me to talk about it. He told me to act normal today. To just get through the day--" Scott started.

"When?"

"He's coming to get me at work. At the Animal Clinic," Scott said.

Stiles took a deep breath, coming to a decision,"Okay. Then that gives me until the end of the school day."

"To do what?" Scott asked.

"To teach you myself."

Change Of View

Hope glanced around nervously, listening to Allison and Lydia talk while her eyes searched for Stiles.

"The what of who?" Lydia said.

"The Beast of Gévaudan. Listen..." Allison said, flipping through the pages in her book,"A quadruped wolf-like monster prowling the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France during the years 1764 to 1767. La Bête killed over 100 people, becoming so infamous that the King, Louis XV, sent one of his best hunters to try to kill it."

"Boring," Lydia groaned.

Allison only continued to read,"Even the Church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan."

"Still boring."

"Cryptozoologists believe it may have been a sub-species of hoofed predator, possibly the Mesonychid--"

"Slipping into a bored coma."

"--while others believe it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape shift into a man-eating monster."

"Any of this have to do with your family?" Lydia asked, trying to get Allison to stop reading.

"This..." Allison replied,"It is believed La Bête was finally trapped and killed by a renowned hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature. The hunter's name was Argent."

Lydia peers down at the book,"Your ancestors killed a big wolf, so what?"

"Not just a big wolf. Look at this picture. What's it look like to you?" Allison asked, flipping to a page in one of the books and this time Hope glanced over at it.

The Beast stands enshrouded in mist, a powerful monster peering out of the darkness with red eyes and sharp claws. Bodies of women and children lie at its feet, looks of pure terror frozen onto their dead faces.

Lydia stares at the macabre drawing. Gazing at it, as if hypnotized. But for Hope it seemed familiar, like she had seen something similar to it before.

"Lydia? Hope?" Allison said, making both of their gazes snap up.

Hope swallowed, going back to looking around the cafeteria for Stiles.

Lydia blinks and then looks up at Allison with her usual expression of disdain,"It looks. Like a big. Wolf. See you in History," She said, standing up and collecting her things and heading out of the cafeteria.

Stiles sits, eating lunch. A large book stands open on the table in front of him. He peers behind it at Scott trying to eat his lunch.

"I think the book is making it more obvious. Besides she's reading," Stiles mumbled, actually doing the smarter and much less subtle thing by keeping his back to their table with his hood up over his head.

Scott peers up over the edge of his book,"Do you have a plan yet?" Scott asks, only allowing Stiles to see his eyes.

"I think so," Stiles replied.

"Does this mean you don't hate me now?" Scott asked hopefully.

"No. But your crap has infiltrated my life so I have to do something about it," Stiles said, munching down on a carrot,"And I'm definitely a better Yoda than Derek."