Rising Moon: Scavenge | Teen Wolf ( 4 )

Lies of Omission

"You know, when you asked for my help, no one mentioned a two hour long nature walk." I grumbled in annoyance as I stepped over a fallen log in the middle of the preserve and I shot a glare at Stiles when he rolled his eyes at me dramatically. "You could have warned me. I'm not wearing the right shoes for this."

"Neither am I. I'm afraid I'm going to twist an ankle." Lydia complained with a grimace as she clung to my arm for balance when she stepped over the fallen log after me and I grabbed both of her hands to help her over the uneven ground as she smiled gratefully.

Stiles came to a stop in the middle of a clearing, resting his hands on top of his head as he spun around in a circle with a frown and then exhaled out a huff of frustration as he dropped his hands to his hips. "It's almost like this thing doesn't want to be found."

"Maybe it knows we're late for class." I quipped drily as I crossed my arms over my chest with a quirked eyebrow and I caught sight of the white chalk marks on tree trunk to the side of the clearing as I smirk spread across my lips.  "Because we've been here twice."

A confused frown marred Stiles' lips as he spun around to follow the direction I pointed in and his expression crumbled in on itself as he sighed in defeat. "Crap."

A fleeting wave of sympathy washed over me as I shared an understanding look with Lydia while he wasn't looking but I couldn't help feeling some relief that we could stop wandering in circles. When Stiles and Lydia broke into my room earlier that morning, demanding that I wake up and get dressed so that I could help them with a research project, I didn't complain because I thought he meant reading through books. Both Lydia and I were suitably unimpressed when we ended up in the middle of Beacon Hills Preserve but Stiles ignored our complaints as he jovially sauntered into the woods without a care.

"Can we talk to Parrish now?" I asked him with my arms crossed over my chest as I cocked my head to the side, my eyebrows raised in silent question and he turned back to glare at me without any real heat as he settled his hands on his hips.

"Hang on." He exclaimed in realisation as his eyes lit up with hope, causing Lydia and I to step backwards in unison when he pointed a finger in the strawberry blonde's direction with an almost manic expression. "If the Nemeton's covered in bodies, shouldn't you be able to find them?"

"Me?" Lydia asked incredulously as she pointed towards herself with an eyebrow raised and he nodded in answer with both eyebrows raised as he looked at her expectantly while waving his arms erratically.

"Yes, you. That's what you do. You're the Banshee, you find the bodies."

"Well, the Banshee's having an off day, so how about we talk to Parrish?"

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"Because one of the bodies... One of them... One of them could be..." he stuttered nervously before cutting himself off abruptly as he avoided looking in our direction and I closed my eyes as I realised that he didn't want anyone else finding Donovan's body before we could make sure there was no evidence.

"Could be what?" Lydia asked in confusion with a frown as she crossed her arms over her chest and Stiles faltered for a moment as his gaze swept over her features with a saddened expression.

"One of them could be a clue." He stated meekly after a long moment of silence, unable to look her directly in the eye as he shifted nervously from one foot to the other and wrung his hands in front of himself anxiously.

"Stiles." She snapped warningly in a sharp tone as she narrowed her green eyes at him, obviously knowing the signs of him lying and he paled considerably as he looked at her pleadingly but her stern expression remained firm. I could see the internal struggle that he was going through as he tried to decide whether or not to tell her his deepest, darkest secret and I could see the inner conflict battling it out inside of him as he looked into her eyes.