The Fire Within

Chapter 3

*Third POV*

Stiles hurries around the backyard, trying to make it look the most presentable as he possibly can. He tries to do something with the black burned grass, but it's no use, so he just gets some leaves from a tree and tries to patch up the dead grass. Stiles steps back to see his work. Eh, it's something. His dad shouldn't know the difference, right? Stiles groans and smacks his head against the tree in the backyard. Of course his father will know the difference. Stiles is so busted. He takes a deep breath and calms himself down. He steps away from the tree. He decides that maybe he should practice something that won't end in as much of a disaster. Maybe he could work on shifting? He's getting good at half shifting at least. Stiles balances his weight evenly on both feet and concentrates for a moment, letting the energy build up inside of him. Soon, midnight black claws sprout from where his fingernails usually are and he can feel his teeth lengthen into deadly fangs. Instinctively, Stiles lets out a low growl. He slowly starts walking over to a window and peers at his reflection. He immediately sees that his eyes have changed from their normal human golden brown color to a bright, burning orange, just like a fire. The only missing thing from his half shift are his wings. He smiles in satisfaction that he didn't destroy anything and managed to do this almost completely right. He needs to keep practicing, but at least he knows that he'll have the strength, speed and claws to fend off anyone that tries attack him.

He does the same thing a few times, turning from human, to a half shifted phoenix, over and over again. Stiles starts getting bored of it after a while and the sun starts to set below the horizon. Stiles decides to do something a little bit more fun. He walks away from the house a little and looks up at his bedroom window that is still open. A mischievous grin makes itself present on his face. Stiles bends his knees a little before using all of his momentum to spring into the air. He flies through the air and grabs onto the sill of his window. Stiles uses his upper body strength to pull himself through the window and tumbles onto the floor. Having the ability to jump like that can be really fun, and helpful. Stiles gets to his feet with a smile on his face. Stiles shifts back to human for the final time. He glances over to his mirror just in time to see his eyes fade back to their usual golden brown color.

~~~

Hours later, Stiles hears the front door is opened and he can hear his dad entering the house, the Sheriff's heart beat thumping steadily while Stiles is sitting in his room, reading 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. Stiles is about to go downstairs to greet him when he suddenly remembers that he's still covered in ash. He curses himself for not washing it off sooner. How the hell did he forget? Stiles panics, not knowing what to do. Stiles tries to think of something but the only thing coming to his mind is to just jump on the shower, but that would make his dad suspicious.

"Stiles, I'm home!" His dad calls out from downstairs. Stiles hears him take off his Sheriff coat and boots.

"Oh, hi Dad! I'll be down in a minute!" Stiles replies hurriedly. He runs circles around his room not knowing what to do, a minute later he decides that his dad is going to find out anyways, he always does. That's why he's the Sheriff. Stiles finally decides that he should just own up to what he did. Stiles sighs quietly as he walks out of his room and makes his way to the top of the stairs. He sees his father walk into the living room. Instead of walking down the stairs like a normal person would, because Stiles isn't a normal person, he decides to jump down the entire flight of stairs. His feet land safely on the ground with a loud thud, only to crash into the wall as he's walking towards the living room, he groans in annoyance and a little bit of pain while he rubs his shoulder.

"Stiles, what have I said about jumping down the stairs?" Stiles hears his dad ask in an annoyed tone.

"Not to do it." Stiles responds as he walks towards the living room.