Hope in Beacon Hills

Chapter 21

"Hang on, hang on. They were both in the car?" Noah asked. "No, dad, they're trying to tell you that it was two separate kidnappings, okay?" Stiles said. "Two doctors, both gone," Hope added. "So whose car is this? And Hope, what are you doing here?" Noah asked. "Well, I thought it would be irresponsible to leave her home all alone, where she could sneak out," Stiles said. "What?" Hope asked, looking at Stiles "I'm not an eight year old, you know" she said, offended by what Stiles just said. "The car is Dr. Hilyard's, the on-call doctor" Melissa said, replying to Noah's earlier question. "Okay, look, dad, I asked her to come, she protested but I insisted" Stiles said, ignoring Melissa. "He's not lying," Hope added. "Okay, wow. You're helpful" Stiles said, sarcastically. "What? I was implying that what you said was true" Hope said, not knowing what she did wrong. "Okay, we'll finish this later," Noah said, because he was in the middle of an investigation. "The E.R. attending is the one that never made it in" Mellisa said. "Let me just focus on getting your story first, all right?" Noah asked. "Yeah," Mellisa replied. "Boys, Hope, give us a second," Noah said. The trio nodded and walked away. "Can you hear that?" Stiles asked after a moment, pointing at his father who was on the phone. Both Hope and Scott tapped into their werewolf hearing. "They found a body," they both said at the same time. "Wait, there's more," Hope said.

"Who said having two teenagers was a good idea?" Noah asked. "I know how you feel. Isaac has been staying with me and Scott for a few days now. At least you don't have two boys" Malissa replied. "What we do for these kids" Noah said with a chuckle. "Maybe we can send them to a boarding school?" Malissa said, faking that she was actually considering it. Noah laughed slightly. Scott and Hope looked at each other grinning. "What?" Stiles asked. "Oh nothing" Hope said, still grinning as she walked to Noah who was signalling the kids to come. "Oh common, what did they say?" Stiles asked, really wanting to know. "They're talking about sending you to a boarding school" Scott said just before he ran up to Hope. "Common guys, this isn't fair" Stiles called after them.

(Later that day at Derek's place)

"What?" Cora said, looking at Stiles, but he didn't answer. "What's this look on your face?" she asked. "What look?" Stiles replied, confused. "The kind of look that makes me want to punch you" Cora answered. "Oh, my god. You are so Derek's sister. I forgot" Stiles said. "Well, what is with the look?" Cora asked again, getting annoyed. "I just don't believe him," Stiles answered. "All right, in Ms. Blake's class, we're reading Heart of darkness, and it's in first person, right? Narrated by Marlow. The thing is that he's an unreliable narrator. You know the details of it have changed, you know, just because of his perspective" he said. "Well, then we heard the story from Peter's perspective." "Right, and I don't think we got the whole story." "So, what, are you just gonna ask Derek about the girl he fell in love with and then killed?" Cora asked. "If I have to... Yeah" Stiles replied. "I don't think that's a good idea." Hope said as she walked into the loft. "Trust me, I would know" she then said, in a really low voice. "Hope? What are you doing here?" Stiles asked, surprised to see Hope there. "You weren't answering your phone so your dad sent me to come find you" Hope explained. "What? Why? Is everything okay?" Stiles asked, beginning to panic. "Everything's fine, your dad just wants you home" Hope tells him in a reassuring voice.

Stiles and Hope were headed home in Stiles's jeep when Stiles got a call from Lydia.

"Where is she?" Stiles asked Scott, as he went out of his car. "Over here," Allison's voice said. Hope, Scott and Stiles walked up to Lydia and Allison.

"Lydia?" Stiles asked. "It's the same thing. Same thing as the pool. I got into the car heading somewhere totally different and ended up here. And, you told me to call you if there's a dead body" Lydia said. "You found a dead body?" Stiles asked, way too excitedly. "Not yet," Lydia answered. "'Not yet'? What do you mean 'not yet'?" Stiles asked, getting confused. "Lydia, you're supposed to call us after you find the dead body" Stiles tells her like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Oh, no, I'm not doing that again. You find the dead body from now on." Lydia protested. "How are we supposed to find the dead body? You're always the one finding the dead body" Stiles said. "Wait, this happens a lot?" Hope asked. "You could say that," Allison answered, because Stiles and Lydia were too caught up in their argument to hear Hope's question. "Guy's" Scott called, getting the two teens to stop talking. "I found the dead body" he then said.

The kids called the police and then went home. Around 4 am Hope heard a low knocking on her bedroom door. "Hope? Are you asleep?" Stiles whispered. "No," Hope answered. Stiles opened the door and walked in. Hope sat up in her bed and looked at Stiles, seeing the troubled look on his face. "Is everything okay?" she asked, gently. "No, not really," Stiles replied. "Did you know her?" Hope asked. "Her name was Tara. She used to help me with my math homework when I had to wait for dad at the station" he replied. "I'm sorry" Hope said, even though she knew it wouldn't change the fact that Tara was dead.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" "It's just that you always seem so tired, like you never get enough sleep." "Sometimes I get restless," Hope said. "What do you normally do when you get restless?" Stiles asked. "I wolf-out," Hope replied. "So why haven't you?"

"Well, I can't do it in broad daylight, not with all the people around, and your dad forbid me to go out at night. And as you know, every time I do, he finds out." "Well, he left for work about half an hour ago to finish up some paperwork. So, if you want you can go out now... unless you think you can fall asleep" Stiles told her. Hope thought about it for a moment and then asked "do you want to come along?" "Yes," Stiles answered eagerly.

The two walked out, deep into the forest where no one could see what was about to happen. "Could you maybe turn around?" Hope asked awkwardly. "Why?" Stiles asked but still did it. "I, uh, have to take all of my clothes off to change," Hope said, stepping behind a tree, just in case someone happens to be walking by. "What?" Stiles asked, both surprised and a bit uncomfortable.

After a short while Stiles heard a low growl so he slowly turned around. "Wow" he said, not expecting to see a full wolf in front of him. He knew that Hope's werewolf kind was different but he wasn't expecting that. Hope slowly walked up to him. Stiles put out his hand and touched Hope's soft white fur. She then turned and ran away.

Around fifteen minutes later Hope had changed back and now she and Stiles were lying on the ground looking up at the stars. "Not being able to change isn't the only reason I haven't been sleeping," Hope said. Stiles turned to look at her. She hesitated but then continued. "I've been having these nightmares, where I'm in New Orleans, and something bad has happened but I just can't remember what" she said, still looking up at the stars.

"What if I told you there may be a way to help you remember" Stiles said. Hope turned to look him in the eyes. "What do you mean?" "I may know a way, but there's a chance you won't like it." Hope didn't reply, she just looked up at the stars. They stayed like that for a while until they had to go home.